Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Shares Up 8.5% – Time to Buy?

Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB)’s stock price shot up 8.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $80.43 and last traded at $80.62. 410,200 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 0% from the average session volume of 411,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 9.3%

The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.35 and its 200-day moving average is $103.17. The company has a current ratio of 5.56, a quick ratio of 4.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Turning Point Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 0.4%. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is 10.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Turning Point Brands

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,353.51. This trade represents a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Turning Point Brands

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Turning Point Brands by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 2.2% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.