Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $109.22, but opened at $105.56. Turning Point Brands shares last traded at $105.9750, with a volume of 1,717 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $110.00 target price on shares of Turning Point Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Turning Point Brands from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Alliance Global Partners raised their price target on Turning Point Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $102.50.

Turning Point Brands Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 5.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.24.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.46. Turning Point Brands had a net margin of 12.02% and a return on equity of 24.44%. The business had revenue of $118.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 19th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 19th. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is currently 10.56%.

Insider Activity at Turning Point Brands

In related news, Director H.C. Charles Diao sold 2,000 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.20, for a total value of $216,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,060,792.80. The trade was a 16.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brittani Cushman sold 15,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.66, for a total value of $1,550,315.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $3,526,280.42. This represents a 30.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 66,220 shares of company stock worth $6,650,742 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Turning Point Brands

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TPB. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 974,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,296,000 after purchasing an additional 30,282 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 11.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 808,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,940,000 after buying an additional 85,716 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its position in Turning Point Brands by 24.9% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 674,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,712,000 after buying an additional 134,401 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 509,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,629,000 after buying an additional 7,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 33.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 441,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,674,000 after buying an additional 111,590 shares in the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Turning Point Brands Company Profile

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.