Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 5,580 Shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 118,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,580 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Turning Point Brands were worth $11,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TPB. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of Turning Point Brands in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Turning Point Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Turning Point Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $129,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Turning Point Brands by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Turning Point Brands news, Chairman David Edward Glazek sold 30,000 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.26, for a total transaction of $3,307,800.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 127,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,012,171.58. The trade was a 19.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director H.C. Charles Diao sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.20, for a total value of $216,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,792.80. The trade was a 16.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,719,340. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 2.0%

TPB opened at $90.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 5.56 and a quick ratio of 4.12. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.48 and a fifty-two week high of $146.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $117.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.85.

Turning Point Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Turning Point Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 9.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on TPB. Zacks Research cut shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Turning Point Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Turning Point Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.67.

Turning Point Brands Company Profile

Turning Point Brands, Inc (NYSE: TPB) is a U.S.-based consumer products company focused on the manufacture, marketing and distribution of smokeless tobacco, vaping and cigar products. Headquartered in Old Hickory, Tennessee, the company serves retail outlets across all 50 states through a direct-store-delivery network and select third-party distributors. Turning Point Brands operates two reporting segments—Smokeless Products and Cigar—and leverages its logistics capabilities to offer a broad portfolio of brands and SKUs.

In its Smokeless Products segment, Turning Point Brands produces moist smokeless tobacco under leading brand names such as Grizzly, Kodiak and Stoker’s.