Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on TPB. Alliance Global Partners assumed coverage on Turning Point Brands in a report on Monday, March 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $85.00 target price on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Turning Point Brands from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Turning Point Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.67.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:TPB opened at $73.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.64. Turning Point Brands has a 12-month low of $30.61 and a 12-month high of $81.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $106.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.75 million. Turning Point Brands had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 11.63%. Turning Point Brands’s revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Turning Point Brands will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Turning Point Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Insider Activity at Turning Point Brands

In other news, Director Gregory H.A. Baxter sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.64, for a total transaction of $110,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,419 shares in the company, valued at $2,976,455.16. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total value of $265,125.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,453.25. The trade was a 25.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Turning Point Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TPB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,524,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,631,000 after purchasing an additional 18,440 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 318,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,145,000 after purchasing an additional 84,552 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 243,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,667 shares in the last quarter. Northern Right Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 63.9% in the first quarter. Northern Right Capital Management L.P. now owns 220,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,087,000 after purchasing an additional 85,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 203,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,243,000 after purchasing an additional 58,425 shares in the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Turning Point Brands

Turning Point Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes branded consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Zig-Zag Products, Stoker’s Products, and Creative Distribution Solutions. Zig-Zag Products segment markets and distributes rolling papers, tubes, finished cigars, make-your-own cigar wraps, and related products, as well as lighters and other accessories under the Zig-Zag brand.