Federal securities filings show new holdings by executive of the tobacco giant, Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) The issue peaks investor interest because it can predict the next movement in the share price of a stock.
The transactions were made as part of the Deferred Fee Plan for directors of the company who are not employees. The acquisition of shares was made on June 29 at a market price of $57.10 per share.
Mark E. Newman, a member of the audit and finance committees, acquired 241 units for a total direct ownership of 476 shares under the Deferred Fee Plan. Newman also has a direct holding of Altria Group for a total of 9,187 shares, which includes 3,165 deferred shares that the director holds under the stock compensation plan.
Kelly Ennis acquired 481 units. Now, she directly owns 13,855 shares under the Deferred Fee Plan. Also, the manager directly owns 22,815 deferred shares of Altria Group under the stock compensation plan. She is a member of the committees for audit, innovation and nominating, and for corporate governance and social responsibility.
Thomas F. Farrell II was granted 241 units for a total volume of 29,864 shares. In addition, the director beneficially owns 73,068 shares under the stock compensation plan. Of that, a volume of 70,568 units are deferred shares. Farrell is the presiding director of the committees for compensation, executive and nominating, and for corporate governance and social responsibility.
On Tuesday, July 3, Altria Group (MO, Financial) closed at $56.46 per share on the New York Stock Exchange, 1.06% up from the previous close.
Altria Group has fallen 24% this year and has underperformed the S&P 500 by almost 36%:
The share price of Altria Group is now under the 200 and 100-SMA lines and is mimicking the 50-SMA line. In addition, the stock is cheap based on the current market valuation because the share price is only a few U.S. dollars above the 52-week low of $53.91 per share and about 33% from the 52-week high of $74.98 per share.
Altria Group has a market capitalization of about $197 billion.
Wall Street recommends buying the stock and the average target price is $68.57 per share.
An indication of a buying opportunity also stems from the Peter Lynch chart that is illustrating a share price standing at a considerable discount to the Price at Med P/E without NRI (P/E = 3.81) of $83.8 per share.
Currently, Altria Group has a forward price-earnings ratio of 13.97 times versus an industry median of 17.48. Altria Group is currently distributing a 70 cent cash quarterly dividend to its shareholders. If the quarterly distribution is held constant, it leads to a forward annual dividend of $2.80 per share, granting 4.93%.
(Disclosure: I have no positions in any security mentioned in this article.)
