Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 5,580 Shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,580 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.62% of Turning Point Brands worth $11,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Turning Point Brands by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Turning Point Brands by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 91,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,951,000 after buying an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands during the second quarter worth $1,068,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 7,104 shares during the period. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 12.1% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director H.C. Charles Diao sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.20, for a total value of $216,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,060,792.80. The trade was a 16.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Flynn sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,443 shares in the company, valued at $921,353.51. This represents a 17.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $3,719,340. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Turning Point Brands Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE TPB opened at $90.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $117.75 and its 200 day moving average is $105.38. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.48 and a 52 week high of $146.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 4.12 and a current ratio of 5.56.

Turning Point Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Turning Point Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is 9.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TPB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Turning Point Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Turning Point Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.67.

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.