4D Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Key Points

• 4D Advisors LLC has made a new investment in Turning Point Brands, acquiring 95,000 shares valued at approximately $5.65 million, making it the firm's 6th largest holding.
• Turning Point Brands reported a 25.1% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, with earnings per share exceeding analyst expectations at $0.98.
• Several analysts have recently revised their ratings on the stock, with Zacks Research upgrading it to a "strong-buy" rating, while the consensus price target is set at $78.83.

4D Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 95,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,647,000. Turning Point Brands makes up 4.4% of 4D Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. 4D Advisors LLC owned about 0.53% of Turning Point Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Turning Point Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Turning Point Brands by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,364 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Turning Point Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Prescott General Partners LLC bought a new stake in Turning Point Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on TPB. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Friday, August 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Turning Point Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Turning Point Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Turning Point Brands from $85.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Turning Point Brands news, Director Lawrence Wexler sold 25,000 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total transaction of $1,898,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 330,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,074,324.84. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Graham Purdy sold 30,000 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.03, for a total value of $2,250,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,066,773.98. This trade represents a 11.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,700 shares of company stock worth $7,126,982. Insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Turning Point Brands Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE:TPB traded up $2.09 on Friday, hitting $100.91. 181,942 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,850. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.08 and a 1 year high of $102.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.19. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 42.22 and a beta of 0.76.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.19. Turning Point Brands had a return on equity of 25.32% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $116.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS 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 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Turning Point Brands's payout ratio is 12.55%.

Turning Point Brands Company Profile

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.