A Melbourne man has been sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment for insider trading of ASX shares.

The County Court of Victoria on Monday handed down the sentence to former Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) general manager Michael Story of Elwood, Victoria.

Story was also ordered to pay a fine of $30,000 and a penalty of $70,179.37, which was the level of benefit he illegally derived from insider trading.

The court found the executive sold his Sigma shares while he had information about the business that the public did not know about.

Sold his shares before they fell 40%

The insider information related to Sigma’s supplier relationship to giant pharmacy retailer Chemist Warehouse.

On 2 July 2018, Sigma announced to the ASX that its supply contract would cease on 30 June 2019. This significant loss of business led to the share price plunging 40% that day.

An Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation found Story was “heavily involved” in the contract negotiations, and privately knew the deal wouldn’t be renewed.

He was also aware that the failure to renew the Chemist Warehouse relationship would have a massive impact on the Sigma stock price.

Despite knowing this, he sold 250,000 Sigma shares for $202,629.

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said Story was “a true insider” who had “sensitive company information” that would impact the share price. 

“He sold his shares with inside information, giving him an unfair advantage,” she said.

“This criminal conduct threatens the integrity of Australia’s financial markets. ASIC will continue to pursue cases of using inside information to illegally trade on our markets.”

No other reason other than personal benefit

Judge Simon Moglia condemned Story’s dishonesty and found there was no explanation for his actions other than to avoid personal loss.

The former executive would have been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment if he had not pleaded guilty and instead contested the accusations. 

Story was released upon a recognizance of $5,000 and a three-year good behaviour period.

At the time of Story’s offences, the maximum penalty for insider trading was 10 years’ jail. It is now 15 years.

The Commonwealth director of public prosecutions prosecuted the case against the former executive after an ASIC referral.

The post Melbourne man jailed for insider trading of ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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• Will AVZ Minerals shares finally return to trade this week?
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• 2 oversold stocks to buy in the Nasdaq bear market
• Here’s the Rio Tinto dividend forecast through to 2024

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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2022 has been a rough month for many ASX shares, not to mention the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO). Since the start of the year, the All Ords remains down by more than 13%, even after today’s monster rally. But that’s nothing compared to the Pure Hydrogen Corporation (ASX: PH2) share price.

Pure Hydrogen shares have been smashed this year. The company started 2022 at a price of 57 cents a share. But as of today’s close, its share price is 22 cents. That’s down 61.4% year to date.

It’s certainly been a wild ride for the company over the year so far. Pure Hydrogen saw some big share price rises earlier in the year following news of a joint venture that will see the company working to supply hydrogen-powered vehicles to the Indian market.

We also saw renewed interest following the March announcement that Pure Hydrogen would seek to develop and commercialise the manufacture of ‘turquoise hydrogen’.

But more recent months have seen investor confidence wane. This has resulted in Pure Hydrogen shares retreating back to the 22 cent level we see today.

Pure Hydrogen share price suspended… What happened?

However, the Pure Hydrogen share price might be stuck at 22 cents for a while. That’s because the company’s shares have actually been suspended from ASX trading as of this morning. Before market open today, Pure Hydrogen put out an ASX notice to the markets confirming a share price suspension from quotation.

Here’s that notice in full:

The securities of Pure Hydrogen Corporation Limited (‘PH2’) will be suspended from quotation immediately under Listing Rule 17.3, pending ASX’s inquiries into a PH2 presentation made selectively available on 23 June 2022.

And that’s all we know for now.

The “PH2 presentation made selectively available on 23 June 2022″ would appear to be the presentation Pure Hydrogen released on that day. This outlined the settlement the company reached with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). It stated:

Pure Hydrogen has settled a dispute to repay R & D tax incentive refunds with the Department of Industry and Science (ISA) and the Australia Taxation Office (ATO)…

Accordingly, Pure Hydrogen will have turnaround of approximately $13.1M – it will no longer [be] liable for a claim from the ATO of $7.2M to repay R & D tax incentive refunds and instead be entitled to a refund estimated at $5.9M.

So it’s unclear why this presentation has caused the ASX to initiate an inquiry into the company at this stage. We shall have to wait and see what the company says next.

Meantime, the last Pure Hydrogen share price gives the company a market capitalisation of around $75.26 million.

The post Down 60% in 2022, what’s happening to the Pure Hydrogen share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Investing in ASX hydrogen shares? Here’s what you should know

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It has been some time since we have seen any movement from the AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ) share price.

It was slammed into a trading halt on 9 May and has been suspended from trade since then.

Why are AVZ shares suspended?

The company requested that its shares be suspended from trade while it deals with arbitration proceedings relating to an ownership dispute.

Chinese mining company Jin Cheng Mining Company is seeking to be recognised as a shareholder of Dathcom Mining, which is the ultimate owner of the Manono Lithium and Tin Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Depending on the outcome of the arbitration, at best, AVZ could ultimately end up owning a 66% stake in the project. Whereas at worst, it could be left with a stake as small as 36%.

This has obvious implications to the company’s valuation, which is why AVZ shares aren’t trading.

What’s next?

As things stand, AVZ shares are scheduled to return to trade on Friday 1 July. However, that’s if the arbitration proceedings have been completed. If they drag on, so too will the suspension.

Based on what management has said, it seems unlikely that the matter will be resolved by then.

The Company has considered Jin Cheng’s claims in detail and considers them to be spurious in nature, without merit, containing fundamental and material errors, and having no substance or foundation in fact or law. The Company is continuing to take all necessary actions to resist these vexatious and meritless claims and to protect its and Dathcom’s interests.

After further consultation with the parties to the arbitration, the ICC will now decide whether the arbitral tribunal will be constituted by a single arbitrator (Jin Cheng’s preference) or 3 arbitrators (AVZI’s preference). This will take about 4 weeks.

The post Will AVZ Minerals shares finally return to trade this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares that have surged 300% in the past year
• AVZ share price suspension: What is the Manono Lithium Project they are fighting over?
• The AVZ share price suspension will continue until when?
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in May
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Today marked a day of relief for those invested in S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares. The index took its multi-session gain to a new level on Monday, finishing the session 1.93% higher at 6,705.80 points.

Impressively, all 11 ASX 200 sectors closed in the green today.

The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) made an afternoon dash to top the board, lifting 2.7% to do so.

The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) also outperformed, gaining 2.5%. That followed a strong Friday’s trade on Wall Street in which the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 3.34%.

ASX 200 energy shares also surged higher, likely on the back of higher oil prices. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) ended the day up 2.4%.

Finally, the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) came in as the market’s worst performing sector. Though, it still rose 1% today.

While the broader market was returning a notable gain on Monday, individual stocks were busy launching even higher. Let’s take a look at today’s top performers.

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

It was a tough competition to take out the crown of today’s best performing ASX share. Of the top 200 ASX shares by market capitalisation, only 23 were in the red at the time of writing.

But the Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price managed to best the rest. The ASX 200 share gained 13% today as it and many of its lithium peers continued to recover from last week’s carnage. Find out more about Core Lithium here.

The next best performer was none other than fellow ASX lithium share, Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) – posting an 8.7% increase. Find out more about Liontown Resources here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)	$1.03	12.57%
Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR)	$1.07	9.74%
Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)	$18.36	6.44%
Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE)	$10.72	6.24%
Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG)	$3.165	6.21%
ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB)	$30.80	6.17%
Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)	$104.24	5.83%
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)	$69.815	5.54%
Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX: JDO)	$1.33	5.14%
Webjet Limited (ASX :WEB)	$5.55	5.11%

Data as at 3:55pm AEST

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Monday
• Liontown Resources share price rockets 9% amid broker’s positive lithium outlook
• What was the highest ever Xero share price?
• 16-month low: How ASX copper shares are faring this month
• Guess which sector is delivering the biggest gain across the ASX 200 today

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. and Judo Capital Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ARB Corporation Limited, Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index is officially in a bear market after dropping 26% year to date, but some investors are on the hunt for bargains that could spike in value once more optimism returns to the markets. Looking specifically at the 100 largest non-financial companies listed — otherwise known as the Nasdaq 100 — Facebook parent Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) rank toward the bottom of the list in year-to-date performance.

Both companies are facing their share of near-term headwinds. Revenue growth is decelerating at Meta due to weakening trends in the advertising market, while investors are wondering if Netflix can resume growing subscribers in a more competitive streaming market.

Still, if these ubiquitous brands recover, both stocks could rebound sharply once general market sentiment improves. Let’s explore why it’s a bet worth making.

Meta Platforms

Shares of the Facebook parent are down 56% from the 52-week high of $384 after the social media giant reported disappointing earnings results to start the year. Investors are worried about slowing growth amid a weak advertising environment, which is the primary revenue source for the company, but a slow ad market is only half of Wall Street’s concern.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made a big bet on virtual reality (VR) with the company’s Oculus brand of headsets. Management sees the metaverse as a major opportunity that creates a perfect pairing with Oculus VR. But the market doesn’t like that these long-term bets are taking a bite out of the bottom line in the near term.

On top of weak single-digit revenue growth in the first quarter, Meta also reported a 25% year-over-year drop in operating profit. Total expenses increased 31% year over year, driven by technology infrastructure and hiring to support growth initiatives in the family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and Reality Labs (virtual reality).

Zuckerberg and his team are confident these investments are going to lead to something promising as previous bets on mobile and the Stories feature eventually put Facebook on a solid growth trajectory years ago.

Meanwhile, the stock is a steal trading at a low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13. At this valuation, the market is basically saying Meta’s days of growth are over, but is that expectation reasonable?

At this valuation level, investors don’t need Meta to grow at high rates to earn a decent return on investment. Whether Zuckerberg is right about the metaverse doesn’t matter at this point. The stock will likely rebound once advertising spending comes back, and that’s a good bet given the 2.87 billion daily active users across Meta’s family of apps.

Netflix

One of the most-followed Nasdaq stocks has taken a beating like no other in this bearish environment. Netflix reported its first subscriber decline in years last quarter, leading the stock to nosedive.

Buying shares of this top entertainment stock might take some guts at this point, especially with management guiding for another loss of two million subscribers for the second quarter. Like Meta Platforms, investors don’t have much to lose by adding a small position in Netflix at these levels, while the upside could be big.

The global streaming market is still on an upward trajectory. In fact, the Motion Picture Association’s 2021 Theatrical and Home Entertainment Market Environment (THEME) report mentioned that the digital streaming marketplace accounted for 72% of the combined theatrical and home entertainment market, representing a sharp increase from 46% in 2019.

As the largest streaming provider with a growing library of content, that is good for Netflix. The company is more profitable than it’s ever been with an operating profit margin hovering around 20%. The stock’s P/E is also a modest 17.3 — the cheapest Netflix has traded on a P/E basis in nearly a decade.

Investors are underestimating how that improved profitability will provide management with more resources to invest in content and other initiatives to accelerate growth and win over more subscribers. The streamer’s entry into video games only gives investors a hint of how Netflix might evolve over the long term.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post 2 oversold stocks to buy in the Nasdaq bear market appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Is Netflix stock at a tipping point?
• Why Meta, Amazon, and Apple shares were falling today
• Better buy: Twitter vs. Meta Platforms
• Why is everyone talking about Netflix stock?
• Can Stranger Things stop Netflix’s subscriber bleed?

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Ballard has positions in Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Inc. and Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price has returned to form on Monday.

In afternoon trade, the mining giant’s shares are up 2% to $103.48.

Despite this gain, the Rio Tinto share price remains down 25% from its 52-week high.

In light of this, income investors may be wondering what this share price weakness means for the Rio Tinto dividend in the coming years.

Where is the Rio Tinto dividend heading?

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts appear to believe FY 2021’s US$10.40 per share fully franked dividend could be the near term peak. However, it is still expecting some very big yields from the mining giant.

For example, in FY 2022, the broker expects Rio Tinto’s dividend to come in at a fully franked US$8.70 (A$12.55) per share. Based on the current Rio Tinto share price, this would mean a very generous fully franked 12.1% dividend yield for investors.

In FY 2023, the broker is forecasting a similarly big dividend from Australia’s second largest miner. It has pencilled in a fully franked US$8.49 (A$12.25) per share dividend from the company. This represents an 11.8% yield for investors.

Finally, with Goldman expecting iron ore prices to weaken in FY 2024, it is forecasting a dividend cut to US$6.78 (A$9.78) per share. But despite this cut, this would still represent an above-average 9.5% dividend yield for investors.

Should investors buy Rio Tinto shares?

As well as big dividend yields, Goldman Sachs sees plenty of value in the Rio Tinto share price.

The note reveals that its analysts have a buy rating and $131.00 price target on its shares. This implies potential upside of almost 27% for investors over the next 12 months.

Goldman commented: “Rio is a FCF story in our view, however, and we see the company returning to growth in 2022 & 2023 with a c. 3% and 5% increase in Cu Eq production.”

The post Here’s the Rio Tinto dividend forecast through to 2024 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Guess which sector is delivering the biggest gain across the ASX 200 today
• Why are ASX 200 mining shares having such a dire week?
• ASX 200 midday update: Pilbara Minerals’ lithium price update, BHP tumbles
• Could this be weighing down the Rio Tinto share price today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is off to a cracking start to the trading week so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has galloped ahead, rising by 1.92% to just over 6,700 points.

But let’s delve a little deeper into these ASX gains and have a look at the ASX 200 shares that are currently at the peak of the share market’s volume charts right now, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Monday

Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE)

First up today, we have an ASX 200 resources share in Lake Resources. So far this Monday, a whopping 36.77 million Lake Resources shares have been bought and sold.

In some good news, this volume seems to be a byproduct of the huge rally we are seeing in lithium stocks over today’s session. Like many of its peers today, Lake Resources shares are on fire. In this case, the company has put on a pleasing 6.52% at the time of writing, trading at 85.75 cents a share.

Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

Our next ASX 200 share to check out today is the gold miner Evolution Mining. So far today, a sizeable 36.98 million Evolution shares have been shared around the ASX. Unfortunately for investors, it’s been some terrible news that has elicited this high volume.

As we covered this morning, the miner updated its FY2022 guidance. It reported that it expects its full-year production to fall 6% year-on-year, while costs are set to rise. This has led to a brutal share price reaction, with Evolution shares falling by almost 22% today. No wonder so many shares have been traded.

Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU)

Finally, we have ASX 200 healthcare share Imugene. A massive 85.59 million Imugene shares have changed hands so far today. In another bit of good news for investors, we seem to have another huge share price spike to thank here.

Imugene shares are presently up a jaw-dropping 46.67% at 24.2 cents each. This comes after the company reported some pleasing results this morning on its gastric cancer drug candidate HER-Vaxx. With a rise of that scale, it’s no wonder we are seeing such impressive volumes today.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Evolution, Newcrest, OZ Minerals, and Zip shares are dropping today
• Why Imugene, Link, Metcash, and Sayona shares are racing higher
• Liontown Resources share price rockets 9% amid broker’s positive lithium outlook
• What was the highest ever Xero share price?
• 16-month low: How ASX copper shares are faring this month

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top ASX shares leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

According to a note out of UBS, its analysts have retained their buy rating and $34.60 price target on this language testing and student placement company’s shares. Its analysts believe that the company’s shares are trading at attractive level following a sharp pullback in 2022. Particularly given strong language testing demand and the improving outlook for student placements. UBS highlights strong momentum in Australian visa processing over the last three months. The IDP Education share price is trading at $24.75 today.

IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)

A note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have resumed coverage on this battery materials producer’s shares with an outperform rating and $17.00 price target. Macquarie, which is very bullish on lithium, notes that IGO has a world class lithium business that it expects to underpin strong earnings growth in the coming years. In addition, it feels the acquisition of Western Areas should support its nickel production and open up growth opportunities. The IGO share price is fetching $10.33 on Monday afternoon.

National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)

Analysts at Goldman Sachs have retained their conviction buy rating and lifted their price target on this banking giant’s shares to $34.26. Goldman has lifted its earnings estimates to reflect the acquisition of Citigroup’s Australian Consumer business. Outside this, the broker likes NAB due to its belief that the bank’s balance sheet mix provides the best exposure to the domestic system growth over the next 12 to 18 months. The NAB share price is trading at $27.92 today.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• CBA share price leads the big four as banks outperform ASX 200 on Monday
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• Brokers name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy next week

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Idp Education Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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As an ASX 200 blue-chip share and toll road operator, many income investors are attracted to the Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) share price for the dividends.

Before 2020, Transurban had a reputation as one of the ‘safest’ dividend shares on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). This was due to its defensive toll road assets, and long-term tolling contracts, many of which have inflationary protections built in.

Of course, the pandemic changed this reputation somewhat. Transurban had to deal with an unprecedented fall in demand as Australians were forced into lockdown over 2020 and 2021.

We can see the effects of these lockdowns in the Transurban dividend. The company paid out 61 cents in dividends per share in 2019, but only 31 cents in 2020, and 36.5 cents in 2021.

Transurban shares are about to go ex-dividend

But Transurban investors are set for a treat. The company’s next dividend is approaching. But investors will need to act soon if they wish to receive it. Transurban is scheduled to pay out its final dividend for FY2022 on 23 August.

This latest dividend from Transurban will amount to 26 cents per share. That represents a meaningful rise over the interim payment of 15 cents per share that investors received on 22 February this year. It’s also a healthy increase over last year’s final dividend of 21.5 cents per share.

But the company will trade ex-dividend for this payment on 29 June (this Wednesday). That means that if an investor wants to receive this dividend, they will need to own Transurban shares before this date. From 29 June, new investors won’t be eligible to receive this dividend.

So don’t be surprised if we see a big share price drop for Transurban on Wednesday. This is a normal occurrence when a share trades ex-dividend. It represents the value of the dividend leaving the share price.

At the current Transurban share price, this ASX 200 toll road operator has a dividend yield of 2.84%.

The post Hoping to bag the next Transurban dividend? Read this appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Brokers name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy next week
• Here’s 3 popular ASX shares that are trading ex-dividend next week
• 2 ASX 200 infrastructure shares ‘ripe for takeout’: expert
• Transurban share price jumps as dividends hit pre-pandemic highs
• Transurban shares poised for rapid dividend recovery: expert

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price is climbing today despite the company losing a key staff member.

Treasury Wine shares are currently trading at $11.38, a $0.71% gain. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is jumping 2% today.

So what could this latest development mean for Treasury Wines?

Brand director poached

The Treasury Wine brand director for 19 Crimes has been hired by competitor Accolade Wines, the Financial Review reported.

19 Crimes is a key brand for Treasury Wine on bottles of Red Blend, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay.

Ming Alterman, currently based in San Francisco, will become head of marketing at Accolade, the publication stated. Alterman reportedly played a key role in growing the 19 Crimes Brand. This included leveraging the 19 Crimes partnership with the entertainment icon Snoop Dogg.

Treasury Wine sold more than 5 million cases of 19 Crimes in the 2021 financial year. In a recent presentation to the Macquarie Conference in Sydney, the company described this brand as a “global phenomenon”. The US is the major market for 19 Crimes, but it is sold globally.

Other major brands pivotal to Treasury Wine include Penfolds, Squealing Pig, Frank Family Vinyeyards, Pepperjack and Stags’ Leap.

In other news, Morgans analysts have rated the Treasury Wine share price as an “add” and placed a $13.93 price target on the company’s shares. This is 22% more than the current share price.

As my Foolish colleague James reported Saturday, Morgans is optimistic that the company can continue to deliver growth. The broker said the “foundations are now in place for TWE to deliver strong double-digit growth from 2H22 over the next few years.”

Treasury Wine share price snapshot

The Treasury Wine share price has soared nearly 32% in the past year. Year to date, it has leapt close to 40% alone.

For perspective, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has shed 8% over the past year.

Treasury Wine has a market capitalisation of about $8.2 billion based on the current share price.

The post It’s a dog-eat-dog world for the Treasury Wines share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s why brokers rate these ASX growth shares as buys
• What I love about these 2 ASX growth shares
• Experts name 2 ASX growth shares to buy with major upside potential
• 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares Morgans rates as buys
• Despite recent volatility, brokers are bullish on the Treasury Wine share price

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Treasury Wine Estates Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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