Access Investment Management LLC Sells 9,885 Shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Access Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 73,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,885 shares during the quarter. Turning Point Brands makes up approximately 2.0% of Access Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Access Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Turning Point Brands were worth $7,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Turning Point Brands by 27.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Turning Point Brands by 11.9% during the 3rd 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. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Turning Point Brands by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands by 72.1% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 58,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,771,000 after acquiring an additional 24,460 shares during the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lawrence Wexler sold 21,069 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.02, for a total transaction of $2,107,321.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 290,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,315.30. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brittani Cushman sold 15,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.66, for a total transaction of $1,550,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,526,280.42. This trade represents a 30.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,220 shares of company stock valued at $9,958,542. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE TPB opened at $121.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 42.77 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. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.48 and a 12 month high of $124.73.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $118.98 million for 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%.The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 19th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Turning Point Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TPB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Turning Point Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $110.00 price objective on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Turning Point Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Turning Point Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Turning Point Brands in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.67.

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.