Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires Shares of 22,561 Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned 0.12% of Turning Point Brands as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Turning Point Brands by 72.1% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 58,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,771,000 after acquiring an additional 24,460 shares during the period. GatePass Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands during the third quarter worth about $1,119,000. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Turning Point Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,419,000. 4D Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 133.7% during the 2nd quarter. 4D Advisors LLC now owns 222,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,821,000 after purchasing an additional 127,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AWH Capital L.P. purchased a new position in Turning Point Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,410,000. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director H.C. Charles Diao sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.20, for a total transaction of $216,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,792.80. This represents a 16.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Flynn sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $195,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,353.51. This trade represents a 17.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $3,719,340 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Turning Point Brands Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of NYSE TPB opened at $92.29 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $119.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.62. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.48 and a 52-week high of $146.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 5.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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 $0.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Turning Point Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is 9.58%.

Turning Point Brands 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.