Militia Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,472,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,451,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,331,000 after buying an additional 61,311 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 869,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,281,000 after buying an additional 194,938 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 847,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,820,000 after buying an additional 38,437 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 39.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 689,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,877,000 after buying an additional 195,643 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Turning Point Brands by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 541,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,728,000 after acquiring an additional 28,463 shares in the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Turning Point Brands

In other news, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.67, for a total transaction of $366,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $846,114.10. This trade represents a 30.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:TPB opened at $74.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.92. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $146.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a current ratio of 5.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.39.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.08. Turning Point Brands had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 11.53%.The firm had revenue of $124.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Turning Point Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Turning Point Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 18th. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 10.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TPB shares. BTIG Research began coverage on Turning Point Brands in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Compass Point set a $103.00 target price on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Turning Point Brands from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.50.

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.