Virtus Fund Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 797 Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB)

Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Turning Point Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $234,000. Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Turning Point Brands in the 4th quarter worth $278,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Turning Point Brands by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 160,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,639,000 after acquiring an additional 11,808 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Turning Point Brands by 2,339.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 24,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 23,961 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Turning Point Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TPB opened at $73.44 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.92. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.61 and a twelve month high of $81.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14 and a beta of 0.69. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $106.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.75 million. Turning Point Brands had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 33.14%. Turning Point Brands’s revenue was up 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TPB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Alliance Global Partners assumed coverage on Turning Point Brands in a research 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 price objective on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory H.A. Baxter sold 1,500 shares of Turning Point Brands 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 40,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,976,455.16. This trade represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $265,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

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.