Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Trading Down 8.8% – Here’s Why

Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) fell 8.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $80.05 and last traded at $79.9160. 150,040 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 435,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Turning Point Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.75.

Turning Point Brands Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.02. The company has a current ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 19th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.88%.

Insider Activity at Turning Point Brands

In other news, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 4,000 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.67, for a total transaction of $366,680.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $846,114.10. The trade was a 30.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SWP Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Turning Point Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $2,174,000. Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Turning Point Brands in the first quarter valued at $3,472,000. Norris Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Turning Point Brands in the first quarter valued at $4,151,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 290,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,240,000 after purchasing an additional 116,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riposte Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Riposte Capital LLC now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,018,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.