Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Shares Down 5.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) fell 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $102.56 and last traded at $102.1580. 73,605 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 294,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.16.

TPB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Turning Point Brands from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $110.00 target price on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Alliance Global Partners boosted their price target on shares of Turning Point Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Turning Point Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.50.

Insider Transactions at Turning Point Brands

In other Turning Point Brands news, Director Gregory H.A. Baxter sold 1,500 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $147,345.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 38,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,013.37. The trade was a 3.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lawrence Wexler sold 21,069 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.02, for a total value of $2,107,321.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 290,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,315.30. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,220 shares of company stock worth $9,958,542. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Turning Point Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 187.5% in the 2nd quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 943,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,511,000 after purchasing an additional 615,521 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Turning Point Brands in the second quarter valued at about $18,458,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Turning Point Brands during the third quarter worth about $20,788,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 912.1% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 214,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,196,000 after purchasing an additional 193,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mangrove Partners IM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC now owns 260,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,802,000 after purchasing an additional 161,732 shares during the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Turning Point Brands Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 5.56, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $102.63 and its 200-day moving average is $93.89.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.46. Turning Point Brands had a return on equity of 24.44% and a net margin of 12.02%.The firm had revenue of $118.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.42 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Turning Point Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 19th. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.56%.

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.