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Altria ALTRIA HOLDS 2021 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS Altria discusses progress towards its Vision , corporate responsibility priorities and environmental , social and governance efforts Altria announces preliminary Annual Meeting voting results Kathryn McQuade becomes Altria's independent Chair of the Board Altria reaffirms full - year 2021 earnings guidance Altria declares regular quarterly dividend of $ 0.86 per share RICHMOND , Va . -- May 20 , 2021 -- Altria Group , Inc. ( Altria ) ( NYSE : MO ) held its 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders ( Annual Meeting ) today . During the Annual Meeting , Billy Gifford , Altria's Chief Executive Officer , summarized Altria's full - year 2020 and first - quarter 2021 financial results and discussed Altria's progress towards its Vision of responsibly transitioning adult smokers to a non - combustible future . Mr. Gifford also shared Altria's corporate responsibility priorities and environmental , social and governance efforts , reaffirmed Altria's guidance for adjusted diluted earnings per share ( EPS ) and addressed shareholder questions . Copies of these prepared remarks and business presentation and a replay of the audio webcast of the Annual Meeting are available on altria.com . Preliminary Voting Results for Altria's Annual Meeting The preliminary voting results at the Annual Meeting were as follows : Altria's shareholders elected to a one - year term each of the 11 nominees for director named in Altria's proxy statement , ratified the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Altria's independent registered public accounting firm for 2021 , approved , on an advisory basis , the compensation of Altria's named executive officers and did not approve two shareholder proposals . Final voting results will be reported in a Current Report on Form 8 - K that Altria will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission . Altria's Independent Chair of the Board On May 10 , 2021 , Altria's Board of Directors ( Board ) elected Kathryn McQuade , to serve as Altria's independent Chair of the Board . The appointment became effective today , following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting . 2021 Full - Year Guidance In his remarks , Mr. Gifford reaffirmed Altria's guidance for 2021 full - year adjusted diluted EPS to be in a range of $ 4.49 to $ 4.62 , representing a growth rate of 3 % to 6 % from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $ 4.36 in 2020 . Altria's 2021 full - year adjusted diluted EPS guidance range includes planned investments in support of its Vision , such as ( i ) marketplace investments to expand the availability and awareness of Altria's non - combustible products , ( ii ) costs associated with building an industry - leading consumer engagement platform that enhances data collection and insights in support of adult tobacco consumer conversion to non - combustible products and ( iii ) increased non combustible product research and development expense . Altria expects 2021 adjusted diluted EPS growth in the last three quarters of the year . Altria's full - year adjusted diluted EPS guidance excludes the impact of certain income and expense items that management believes are not part of underlying operations . These items may include , for example , loss on early extinguishment of debt , restructuring charges , asset impairment charges , acquisition - related costs , COVID - 19 6601 West Broad Street , Richmond , VA 23230