NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Altria ranked No. 1 in a survey of companies that value diversity and have tangible employee programs and policies to prove it, according to a research group Monday.

DiversityInc's survey of the "Top 50 Companies for Diversity" asked the 203 participating companies to answer more than 230 questions on human capital, CEO commitment, communications and supplier diversity.

The companies were then ranked according to corporate management, leadership and marketing. The firms with the best scores, according to DiversityInc, had the hiring and workplace practices most favorable to women, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, employees with disabilities and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees.

"The benefits of being on (the) list extend to recruiting, retention, investor relations as well as attracting business from other like-minded, progressive companies," said DiversityInc partner and co-founder, Luke Visconti.

Other companies in the top five include, Time Warner's (Research) Turner Broadcasting System (a parent company of CNN/Money), Citigroup (Research), PepsiCo (Research) and Abbott Laboratories (Research).

Eighty percent of companies in the Top 50 had annual revenues of at least $1 billion.