There's one stock I wouldn't touch on a 10-foot pole. And here's why.

I'm sorry.Altria Inc (NYSE: MO)There are two big problems. Even with these concerns, where the company announced the sale of its shares in theAnheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD)I was a little excited when Altria Management announced that it would buy back billions of dollars in stock. Then Altria management announced that they were going to buy back billions of dollars in stock, and that made me think that the next step (investing in the company) was out of the question.

Altria just proved once again why most investors shouldn't own this stock. Here's why.

Altria's yields are impressive, but what is Gwen doing?

The only thing Altria stock is known for is its dividend. It yields a whopping 9.1% and has increased its dividend every year for 54 years. In fact, there's no particular reason to doubt that this icon of the consumer staples industry will continue to pay a dividend in the near future. I fully understand why dividend investors would be interested in buying it.

In fact, the sale of Anheuser-Busch InBev's shares and the subsequent buyback announcement could even be considered positive. With such a high yield, the repurchase may enhance the company's ability to support the dividend: with fewer shares, there is less dividend to pay.

On the other hand, it might be better to buy back the stock than to allow management to invest the cash in the business. After all, the company's investments in Juul and the marijuana industry ended up costing investors billions of dollars in write-offs. At least with Repo Noodle, you know what you're getting.

But there was one little tidbit in the story that I couldn't ignore.

Why is Altria investing in Gwen and marijuana?

Altria's investments in Juul and marijuana have been very misguided. In my opinion, the large write-offs from these investments are reason enough to avoid the company. But the real question is, why did it make these investments in the first place?

The answer is that its most important business - cigarette sales - is on a long-term downward spiral. And there's no sign that the bad news is slowing down.

To put this in numbers: in 2018, Altria produced 109.8 billion cigarettes. That's 5.81 TP3T below 2017's production. in 2023, the company produced 76.3 billion cigarettes, a 9.91 TP3T drop from 2022 levels.

But the year-over-year change is not the big problem. The real problem is that in just five years, production has dropped by 30%, which is terrible, and it explains why management has been trying to find new lines of business, but with little success.

At the moment, the only thing supporting the company's growth is regular price increases. But that won't last long before prices start to exacerbate the decline in sales.

Altria, having run out of options, recently acquired NJOY to get back into the e-cigarette business. NJOY is growing much faster than when Altria invested in Juul. So perhaps the prospects are even better this time around.

The problem is: while I worry that the company will lose value as a result of investing in an unsuccessful business idea, I also recognize that the company has no choice but to keep trying. Or, I suppose, the company could buy back the stock and let the business continue to decline. I don't like either path, so I wouldn't touch Altria stock with a 10-foot pole.

This isn't the kind of consumer goods company you want.

Consumer staples companies are supposed to be boring and reliable. While Altria has been a solid dividend-paying stock, the business itself is in decline, and nothing Koon has done so far has stopped the bleeding.

In my opinion, buying back stock is not a long-term solution to the serious problems facing Altria. In fact, it's just another reason to avoid the company, despite its high dividend yield.

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Reuben Gregg Brewer does not own any of the shares listed above.The Motley Fool does not own any of the shares listed above.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

There's one stock I wouldn't touch on a ten-foot pole. Originally published in The Motley Fool.