Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $125.50 and last traded at $125.0230, with a volume of 85756 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $121.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Alliance Global Partners increased their price objective on Turning Point Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Turning Point Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.67.

Turning Point Brands Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 5.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 44.22 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $108.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.04.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $118.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Turning Point Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 19th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is presently 10.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Turning Point Brands

In other news, Director Lawrence Wexler sold 21,069 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.02, for a total transaction of $2,107,321.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 290,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,315.30. The trade was a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman David Edward Glazek sold 30,000 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.26, for a total value of $3,307,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 127,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,012,171.58. The trade was a 19.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,220 shares of company stock valued at $9,958,542. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Turning Point Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,451,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,331,000 after buying an additional 61,311 shares during the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 974,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,296,000 after acquiring an additional 30,282 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Turning Point Brands by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 808,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,940,000 after purchasing an additional 85,716 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 674,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,712,000 after purchasing an additional 134,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 509,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,629,000 after purchasing an additional 7,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

About Turning Point Brands

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.