Capital Stock

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

At December 31, 2020, Altria had 12 billion shares of authorized common stock; issued, repurchased and outstanding shares of common stock were as follows:


	Shares Issued	Shares Repurchased	Shares Outstanding



Balances, December 31, 2017	2,805,961,317	(904,702,125)	1,901,259,192
Stock award activity	—	676,727	676,727
Repurchases of common stock	—	(27,878,324)	(27,878,324)
Balances, December 31, 2018	2,805,961,317	(931,903,722)	1,874,057,595
Stock award activity	—	427,276	427,276
Repurchases of common stock	—	(16,503,317)	(16,503,317)
Balances, December 31, 2019	2,805,961,317	(947,979,763)	1,857,981,554
Stock award activity	—	437,611	437,611
Balances, December 31, 2020	2,805,961,317	(947,542,152)	1,858,419,165

At December 31, 2020, Altria had 28,357,980 shares of common stock reserved for stock-based awards under Altria’s stock plans.

At December 31, 2020, 10 million shares of serial preferred stock, $1.00 par value, were authorized; no shares of serial preferred stock have been issued.

▪Dividends: During the third quarter of 2020, Altria’s Board of Directors (the “Board of Directors”) approved a 2.4% increase in the quarterly dividend rate to $0.86 per share of Altria common stock versus the previous rate of $0.84 per share. The current annualized dividend rate is $3.44 per share. Future dividend payments remain subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors.

▪Share Repurchases: In January 2018, the Board of Directors authorized a $1.0 billion share repurchase program that it expanded to $2.0 billion in May 2018 (as expanded, the “January 2018 share repurchase program”). In June 2019, Altria completed the January 2018 share repurchase program, under which it purchased a total of 34.0 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $58.86 per share.

In July 2019, the Board of Directors authorized a $1.0 billion share repurchase program (the “July 2019 share repurchase program”). In April 2020, the Board of Directors rescinded the $500 million remaining in this program as part of Altria’s efforts to enhance its liquidity position in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2021, the Board of Directors authorized a new $2.0 billion share repurchase program. The timing of share repurchases under this program depends upon marketplace conditions and other factors, and the program remains subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors.

Altria did not repurchase any shares in 2020. For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, Altria’s total share repurchase activity was as follows:


	July 2019 Share Repurchase Program		January 2018 Share Repurchase Program				July 2015 Share Repurchase Program (1)		Total
(in millions, except per share data)	2019		2019		2018		2018			2019		2018
Total number of shares repurchased	10.1		6.4		27.6		0.3			16.5		27.9
Aggregate cost of shares repurchased	$	500	$	345	$	1,655	$	18		$	845	$	1,673
Average price per share of shares repurchased	$	49.29	$	54.36	$	59.89	$	71.68		$	51.24	$	60.00

(1) In July 2015, the Board of Directors authorized a $1.0 billion share repurchase program (expanded to $3.0 billion in October 2016 and to $4.0 billion in July 2017), which was completed in January 2018.