Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $120.65 and last traded at $119.8450, with a volume of 16738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TPB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Turning Point Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Alliance Global Partners boosted their price target on shares of Turning Point Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Turning Point Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Turning Point Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.67.

Turning Point Brands Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 41.59 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 5.56, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.41.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $118.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.42 million. Turning Point Brands had a return on equity of 24.44% and a net margin of 12.02%.Turning Point Brands’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 19th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is 10.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman David Edward Glazek sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.26, for a total value of $3,307,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 127,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,012,171.58. This represents a 19.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director H.C. Charles Diao sold 2,000 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.20, for a total transaction of $216,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,792.80. The trade was a 16.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,220 shares of company stock worth $9,958,542. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Turning Point Brands

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Turning Point Brands by 2.2% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Turning Point Brands by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 54.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 206 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 (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.