15 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar

8. Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 49

Answering a caller’s query about Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), Cramer commented:

“Alright, but here’s, okay, so I’m going to give you two answers to this because I’ve been trying to change my mind about some things…. I personally would not own Altria. Why? Because I don’t like what they do. Is it a superior stock better than most? The answer is, as I was writing How to Make Money in Any Market, the answer is yes. So you’ve got two answers. It’s up to you. I couldn’t own it for my trust. I couldn’t live with myself.”

Altria (NYSE:MO) produces and markets a range of tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, nicotine pouches, and e-vapor devices, sold under brands like Marlboro, Black & Mild, Copenhagen, and NJOY ACE. Andvari Associates stated the following regarding Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“Last year, Andvari made its first investments in tobacco companies with the purchase of Philip Morris International and Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO). At the time of our purchase, Philip Morris and Altria had underperformed the S&P 500 over the prior 5- and 10-year periods. Both traded at low valuations and with high dividend yields. But thanks to following the industry o and on for 10+ years, and thanks to many discussions with long-time shareholders of the companies, Andvari felt the time was right to make the plunge. The timing could not have been much better for us as both companies have so far contributed positively to Andvari’s recent overall performance.

The problem—or the feature, depending on your perspective—with the tobacco industry has been a declining population of cigarette smokers in developed countries. Over the last four or five years, the decline in these smoking populations has accelerated, which in part explains the poor share performance of the tobacco companies between 2017 and 2023. Despite this, the tobacco companies have maintained, or slowly increased, their revenues and profits with regular price increases on cigarettes…” (Click here to read the full text)