Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Cut to Strong Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on TPB. Weiss Ratings downgraded Turning Point Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Compass Point set a $103.00 price target on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.50.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 2.9%

Turning Point Brands stock opened at $82.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $82.56 and its 200-day moving average is $93.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a current ratio of 5.87. Turning Point Brands has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $146.90. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $124.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.67 million. Turning Point Brands had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Turning Point Brands will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 18th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.88%.

Insider Activity at Turning Point Brands

In other news, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.67, for a total transaction of $366,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $846,114.10. This trade represents a 30.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Turning Point Brands

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Turning Point Brands by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,451,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,331,000 after buying an additional 61,311 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 869,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,281,000 after buying an additional 194,938 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 847,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,820,000 after buying an additional 38,437 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 689,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,877,000 after acquiring an additional 195,643 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 541,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,728,000 after acquiring an additional 28,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

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.