Is Universal Corporation (UVV) Among the Best Tobacco and Cigarette Stocks to Buy Now?

We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Tobacco and Cigarette Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) stands against the other Tobacco and Cigarette stocks.

Cigarette and tobacco stocks are companies that produce and sell cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and all other tobacco products.

The tobacco industry has long been a huge winner for investors. Tobacco companies were among the top performers during the 20th century because of their reputation for providing investors with substantial dividend yields as well as their addictive, extremely profitable, and recession-proof product. However, tobacco firms now confront a different set of challenges. Globally, smoking rates have been progressively declining, particularly in the United States, as a result of growing legislation and health concerns. The industry has attempted to shift to next-generation products as a result. Some people believe that e-cigarettes, vaporizers, and chewable nicotine pouches are healthier options since they avoid some of the negative aspects of smoking cigarettes, such as unpleasant odors. Some companies are expanding beyond tobacco, working with cannabis businesses to capitalize on the potential development in a market that shares numerous similarities with tobacco. There are other hazards associated with tobacco stocks, such as heightened regulation and a decline in smoking rates.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of tobacco farms in the United States decreased from 93,530 in 1997 to roughly 3,000 in 2022. Nonetheless, the USA was the world’s fifth-largest producer of tobacco in 2021, harvesting 431.6 million pounds in 2022, compared to 1.74 billion pounds in 1997. Seventy-seven percent of U.S. production came from North Carolina or Kentucky. Price reductions accounted for $5.7 billion (72%) of the $8.6 billion tobacco businesses spent on advertising in 2022, which included $572.7 million for smokeless tobacco and $8.01 billion for cigarettes. Marketing costs for e-cigarettes came to $859.4 million in 2021. Sales of cigarette packs fell from 12.5 billion to 9.1 billion packs between 2015 and 2021, a 27% decrease. In 2024, the average cigarette tax in each state was $1.93, while the federal tax was $1.01.

Despite the industry’s weak revenue and profit development, investors continue to be drawn to these stocks due to their consistent dividends, profitability, and solid profit margins. Investors believe that stronger growth will eventually be catalyzed by next-generation products.

However, on April 2, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FDA’s decision to deny approval for flavored e-cigarettes in a major decision. According to Justice Samuel Alito, vape producers were given “adequate notice” of the FDA’s review criteria. In this case, businesses like Vapetasia and Triton Distribution applied for certification for products such as “Mother’s Milk and Cookies” and “Killer Kustard Blueberry.”

The FDA has been regulating vaping products since 2016, claiming that flavored vapes represent a health concern and may encourage young people to use tobacco. More than 2.1 million youths in the US reported using e-cigarettes in 2023, with 10% of high school students vaping. The FDA has rejected thousands of flavored products and has only approved tobacco and menthol flavors. One specific issue, marketing plan consideration, was returned to lower courts after the Supreme Court reversed the 5th Circuit’s prior criticism of the FDA’s changing criteria. Companies that promote unapproved products risk “civil and criminal penalties,” the FDA warned.

Our Methodology

For this article, we sifted through the online rankings to form an initial list of the 15 Tobacco and Cigarette Stocks. We have also included e-cigarette and cannabis companies. From the resultant dataset, we chose 10 stocks with the highest number of hedge fund investors, using Insider Monkey’s database of 1009 hedge funds in Q4 2024 to gauge hedge fund sentiment for stocks. We have used the stock’s market cap as of April 25, 2025, as a tie-breaker in case two or more stocks have the same number of hedge funds invested.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).

Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 16

Market Cap as of April 25: $1.43 billion

Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) supplies leaf tobacco all over the world. The business buys leaf tobacco from farmers, processes it, and then sells it to businesses that produce tobacco products for consumers. The company does not produce or sell its own consumer items. Its segments are Tobacco Operations and Ingredients Operations. The Tobacco Operations segment yields the highest revenue. Geographically, the United States accounts for the majority of its revenue. Its stock surged by more than 5% YTD, making it one of the Best Tobacco Stocks.

In its fiscal Q2 2025 report, Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) revealed impressive earnings. This achievement was fueled by strong customer demand in its Tobacco Operations business and larger, higher-quality crops with higher yields from Africa. It is anticipated that the category would maintain its strong performance throughout the second half of the fiscal year. Despite challenges from escalating food prices, the business has been expanding the firm’s market position and drawing attention from both new and current clients. The substantially expanded ingredients factory is expected to increase production and strongly improve fiscal year 2026 profits.

Revenue for Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) was close to $711 million. The company’s future goals include expanding the ingredients division, streamlining its tobacco business, and finding ways to collaborate. Additionally, the company’s cash situation remained strong, with almost $80 million in cash after the quarter.

Overall, UVV ranks 7th on our list of the 10 Best Tobacco and Cigarette Stocks to Buy Now. While we acknowledge the potential of Tobacco and Cigarette companies, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UVV but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.