Altria Group (NYSE: MO) reported Q4 EPS of $0.68, $0.01 better than the analyst estimate of $0.67. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.45 billion versus the consensus estimate of $4.8 billion.

GUIDANCE:

Altria Group sees FY2017 EPS of $3.26-$3.32, versus the consensus of $3.33.

"Altria had another outstanding year,” said Marty Barrington, Altria’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. “We grew our earnings in line with our long-term objectives while returning a large amount of cash to shareholders, improving our balance sheet and strengthening our organizational capability, thus positioning Altria to continue to deliver on our long-term financial goals. In 2016, Altria’s total return to shareholders of 20.5% outpaced both the S&P 500 and the S&P Food, Beverage and Tobacco Index, marking the fourth consecutive year that total shareholder return exceeded 20%.”

“During the year, we also rewarded our shareholders by paying out over $4.5 billion in dividends, raising our dividend by 8%, and repurchasing over $1 billion of our shares under an expanded $3 billion share repurchase program. And with Altria’s support of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s landmark business combination with SABMiller, we enhanced the value of our beer investment and our position in the global brewing profit pool.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Altria Group (MO) click here.