Reviewing Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) & RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX)

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) and RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Turning Point Brands and RLX Technology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Turning Point Brands	1	1	4	0	2.50
RLX Technology	0	2	0	0	2.00

Turning Point Brands currently has a consensus target price of $115.67, indicating a potential upside of 29.49%. RLX Technology has a consensus target price of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 24.69%. Given Turning Point Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Turning Point Brands is more favorable than RLX Technology.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.1% of Turning Point Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.7% of RLX Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Turning Point Brands shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 53.4% of RLX Technology shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Turning Point Brands and RLX Technology”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Turning Point Brands	$507.23 million	3.41	$58.17 million	$2.33	38.34
RLX Technology	$4.38 billion	0.71	$131.83 million	$0.10	20.05

RLX Technology has higher revenue and earnings than Turning Point Brands. RLX Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Turning Point Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Turning Point Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. RLX Technology pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Turning Point Brands pays out 13.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. RLX Technology pays out 100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Turning Point Brands has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Turning Point Brands has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RLX Technology has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Turning Point Brands and RLX Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Turning Point Brands	8.78%	11.35%	5.69%
RLX Technology	20.76%	6.15%	5.60%

Summary

Turning Point Brands beats RLX Technology on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Turning Point Brands

Turning Point Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes branded consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Zig-Zag Products, Stoker’s Products, and Creative Distribution Solutions. Zig-Zag Products segment markets and distributes rolling papers, tubes, finished cigars, make-your-own cigar wraps, and related products, as well as lighters and other accessories under the Zig-Zag brand. The Stoker’s Products segment manufactures and markets moist snuff tobacco and loose-leaf chewing tobacco products under the Stoker’s, Beech-Nut, Durango, Trophy, and Wind River brands. Its Creative Distribution Solutions segment market and distribute other products without tobacco and/or nicotine to individual consumers through VaporFi B2C online platform, as well as non-traditional retail through VaporBeast. In addition, it markets and distributes cannabis accessories and tobacco products. The company sells its products to wholesale distributors and retail merchants in the independent and chain convenience stores, tobacco outlets, food stores, mass merchandising, drug store, and non-traditional retail channels. The company was formerly known as North Atlantic Holding Company, Inc. and changed its name to Turning Point Brands, Inc. in November 2015. Turning Point Brands, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

About RLX Technology

RLX Technology Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of e-vapor products in the People's Republic of China and internationally. It serves partner distributors and retail outlets. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.