Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Performance Graph

The graph below compares the cumulative total shareholder return of Altria’s common stock for the last five years with the cumulative total return for the same period of the S&P 500 Index, the S&P Food, Beverage and Tobacco Industry Group Total Return Index(1) and the Altria Peer Group.(2) The graph assumes the investment of $100 in common stock and each of the indices as of the market close on December 31, 2014 and the reinvestment of all dividends on a quarterly basis.

Source: Bloomberg - “Total Return Analysis” calculated on a daily basis and assumes reinvestment of dividends as of the ex-dividend date.

(1) To better align with comparable investment opportunities, Altria changed from the self-selected Altria Peer Group to the S&P Food, Beverage & Tobacco Industry Group Total Return Index for the year ended December 31, 2019. Both indices are presented, in accordance with SEC rules, which require that if a company selects a different index from that used in the immediately preceding fiscal year, the company’s stock performance must be compared against both the newly selected index and previous index in the year of change.

(2) In 2019, the Altria Peer Group consisted of U.S.-headquartered consumer product companies that are competitors to Altria’s operating companies subsidiaries or that have been selected on the basis of revenue or market capitalization: Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Conagra Brands, Inc., General Mills, Inc., The Hershey Company, Kellogg Company, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corporation, The Kraft Heinz Company, Molson Coors Brewing Company, Mondelēz International, Inc. and PepsiCo, Inc.

On July 2, 2015, Kraft Foods Group, Inc. merged with and into a wholly owned subsidiary of H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation, which was renamed The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC). On November 9, 2016, ConAgra Foods, Inc. (CAG) spun off Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) to its shareholders and then changed its name from ConAgra Foods, Inc. to Conagra Brands, Inc. (CAG).

Market and Dividend Information

The principal stock exchange on which Altria’s common stock (par value $0.33 1/3 per share) is listed is the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “MO”. At February 14, 2020, there were approximately 59,000 holders of record of Altria’s common stock.

Altria expects to continue to maintain a dividend payout ratio target of approximately 80% of its adjusted diluted earnings per share. Future dividend payments remain subject to the discretion of Altria’s Board of Directors (the “Board of Directors”).

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities During the Quarter Ended December 31, 2019

In July 2019, the Board of Directors authorized a new $1.0 billion share repurchase program (the “July 2019 share repurchase program”), which Altria expects to complete by the end of 2020. Share repurchases under this program depend upon marketplace conditions and other factors, and the program remains subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors.

Altria’s share repurchase activity for each of the three months in the period ended December 31, 2019, was as follows:

(1) The total number of shares purchased includes (a) shares purchased under the July 2019 share repurchase program (which totaled 5,085,064 shares in November and 5,059,892 shares in December) and (b) shares withheld by Altria in an amount equal to the statutory withholding taxes for holders who vested in stock-based awards (which totaled 51 shares in October and 29 shares in December).