Altria Group Grants Managers Shares
- By Alberto Abaterusso
Federal securities filings show new holdings of executives in tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. (MO). The issue of shares to insiders can indicate the next movement in the share price of a stock. Therefore it is of interest to investors.
The transaction was made as part of the Deferred Fee Plan for directors of the company who are not employees. The purchase of shares was made on Sept. 28 at an average market price of $60.615 per share.
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The intrinsic value of MO
Thomas F. Farrell II acquired 227 units for a total direct ownership of 30,449 shares under the Deferred Fee Plan. The total volume also includes 358 shares that the director has acquired as a result of the reinvestment of quarterly dividends that were payable on Oct. 10.
Thomas F. Farrell II also has a direct holding of Altria Group totaling 73,913 shares. The volume includes 71,413 deferred shares that he holds under the stock compensation plan and represents an increase of 845 shares from June 29 due to the reinvestment of dividends. Farrell is the presiding director of the committees for compensation, executive and nominating, and for corporate governance and social responsibility.
Kelly Ennis acquired 454 units. She directly owns 14,475 shares under the Deferred Fee Plan. The manager also directly owns 23,088 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.
Newman Mark, a member of the audit and finance committees, was granted 227 units for a total volume of 709 shares. In addition, the director beneficially owns 9,225 shares under the stock compensation plan. Of that, 3,203 units are deferred shares.
The indirect holding of W. Leo Kiely III increased by 14% to 25,754 shares. The increase is a result of the transfer of 3,165 shares from the direct holding of the non-employee director to his family trust. The direct holding of W. Leo Kiely III is sold out. W. Leo Kiely III is the chairman of the compensation committee and a member of the committees for executive, finance and innovation.
On Tuesday, Altria Group closed at $61.29 per share on the New York Stock Exchange, up 1.59% from the previous close.
For the 52 weeks through Oct. 2, Altria Group has fallen 3% and has underperformed the S&P 500 index by almost 19%. The share price is now above the 50- and 100-day simple moving average lines and is mimicking the 200-SMA line.
Furthermore, the share price at close Oct. 2 is nearly $7.50 above the 52-week low of $53.91 per share and about 21.4% from the 52-week high of $74.38 per share.
Altria Group has a market capitalization of approximately $115.54 billion.
Altria Group has a mean recommendation rating of 2.1 out of 5 and an average target price of $67.52 per share.
The stock looks cheap based on below chart, powered by GuruFocus. In fact, the share price at close Oct. 2 is below the Peter Lynch Earnings Line (P/E = 15):
Currently, Altria Group has a forward price-earnings ratio of 13.91 versus an industry median of 17.48. Altria Group is currently distributing an 80-cent cash quarterly dividend to its shareholders. If the quarterly distribution is held constant, it leads to a forward annual dividend of $3.2 per share, granting 5.26%.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any security mentioned in this article.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
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The intrinsic value of MO
