Altria

Die Skeptiker des deals bekamen am 20.12. neue Nahrung:

S&P Global Ratings Internetseite:

Altria Group Inc. Downgraded To 'BBB' On Large Investment In JUUL

• U.S.-based Altria Group Inc. has agreed to acquire a 35% equity stake in
  JUUL Labs Inc. for an estimated $12.8 billion. Altria intends to finance
  this investment, along with its recently announced investment in Cronos
  Group Inc., entirely with debt. We estimate debt to EBITDA, pro forma for
  the transactions, to be slightly under 3x.
  
  
  
• We do not believe JUUL or Cronos will provide significant near-term
  investment returns to Altria. Given Altria's track record of high
  shareholder returns, we do not expect the company to deleverage
  meaningfully from pro forma levels in the next few years.
  
  
• We are lowering our issuer credit rating on Altria to 'BBB' from 'A-'.
  The outlook is stable. We are also lowering our issue-level ratings on
  its senior unsecured debt to 'BBB' from 'A-'.
  
  
• The stable outlook reflects our expectation that debt to EBITDA will be
  sustained in the high-2x area as the core tobacco business continues to
  generate modest profit growth and Altria returns the majority of free
  cash flow to shareholders.
  

Meine MO Position ist bezogen auf die prozentuale Dividendengewichtung bereits eh am absolut oberen Limit, daher wären Nachkäufe eh kein Thema. Um mal mit Buyandhold2012 zu sprechen: MO is a hold right now, never a sale. Naja, so schreibt er dies ja immer. Klar würde ich MO aus dem Depot werfen, sollte die Dividende je gekürzt werden - sehe ich aber nicht am Horizont sondern eher den Versuch etwas zu diversifizieren - was ja legitim ist.