Wall Street Zen Upgrades Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) to “Sell”

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on TPB. Weiss Ratings downgraded Turning Point Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. BTIG Research started coverage on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Compass Point set a $103.00 price objective on Turning Point Brands in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.50.

Turning Point Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:TPB opened at $76.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a current ratio of 5.87. Turning Point Brands has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $146.90.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $115.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Turning Point Brands will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Turning Point Brands

In other news, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.67, for a total value of $366,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,230 shares in the company, valued at $846,114.10. The trade was a 30.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Turning Point Brands

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Turning Point Brands by 4.7% in 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 last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 1,428.7% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 150.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,759,000 after purchasing an additional 85,378 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 182,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,852,000 after purchasing an additional 32,109 shares during the period. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.