Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Takes $943,000 Position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 15,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Turning Point Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $278,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 2,339.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 24,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 23,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 56,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory H.A. Baxter sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.64, for a total transaction of $110,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,976,455.16. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $265,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,453.25. This represents a 25.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TPB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Turning Point Brands from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Turning Point Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.67.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of TPB stock opened at $71.81 on Thursday. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.61 and a 52-week high of $81.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 4.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50 and a beta of 0.69.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.16. Turning Point Brands had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 33.14%. The business had revenue of $106.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

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.