Altria Group (NYSE: MO) is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the largest U.S. tobacco company, and smokeless tobacco and wine manufacturer UST. The company formerly owned Kraft Foods (KFT) and Philip Morris International (PM), which housed its international tobacco business. From an investment standpoint, the company is known for its high dividend yield.

In the past, Altria has focused primarily on maintaining market share in the U.S. Altria is reliant on continued consumption of its products. Decreasing social acceptability of smoking, public awareness of smoking's health risks, and rising costs due to excise taxes and litigation expenses could all lower demand for Altria's products. Litigation also poses a risk to Altria on several fronts: negative press can negatively affect demand, and the costs of with legal battles and settlements are substantial. Despite declines in the total number of smokers, the company can compensate through price increases, so many investors still count the company as a reliable dividend stock. ^[1]

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