Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

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

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of TPB opened at $119.02 on Friday. Turning Point Brands has a 1-year low of $51.48 and a 1-year high of $119.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.91 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 5.56 and a quick ratio of 3.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.82.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $118.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.42 million. Turning Point Brands had a net margin of 12.02% and a return on equity of 24.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Turning Point Brands will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Turning Point Brands

In other news, Director H.C. Charles Diao sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.20, for a total transaction of $216,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,792.80. This represents a 16.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Usher sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,175 shares in the company, valued at $522,675. This represents a 16.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,220 shares of company stock valued at $9,958,542. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Turning Point Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Turning Point Brands by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 24,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 18,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 3,187 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 90.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 328 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.