Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Shares Up 4.3% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) traded up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $57.58 and last traded at $57.39. 73,975 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 118,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Turning Point Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Turning Point Brands in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Benchmark raised their target price on Turning Point Brands from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Turning Point Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 4.4 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.16. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.01. Turning Point Brands had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $105.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is 11.11%.

Insider Activity at Turning Point Brands

In related news, Director Gregory H.A. Baxter sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $78,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,834,764.48. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Turning Point Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TPB. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 405,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,506,000 after acquiring an additional 15,344 shares in the last quarter. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Turning Point Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,517,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 298.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 21,930 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 29,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 25,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

About Turning Point Brands

Turning Point Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes branded consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Zig-Zag Products, Stoker’s Products, and Creative Distribution Solutions. Zig-Zag Products segment markets and distributes rolling papers, tubes, finished cigars, make-your-own cigar wraps, and related products, as well as lighters and other accessories under the Zig-Zag brand.