Informed Momentum Co LLC Reduces Holdings in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB)

Key Points

• Informed Momentum Co LLC decreased its stake in Turning Point Brands, Inc. by 8.7%, holding 76,548 shares after selling 7,299 shares in Q1, making it the fund's 20th largest position.
• Turning Point Brands reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.98, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.79, and revenue of $116.63 million, rising 25.1% year-over-year.
• Recent analyst ratings showed two firms rated Turning Point Brands as a hold, five as a buy, and one as a strong buy, with an average target price of $78.83.

Informed Momentum Co LLC reduced its holdings in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB - Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,548 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,299 shares during the quarter. Turning Point Brands comprises 0.8% of Informed Momentum Co LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Informed Momentum Co LLC owned 0.43% of Turning Point Brands worth $4,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 4.1% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,083 shares of the company's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,739 shares of the company's stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 1.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 24,531 shares of the company's stock worth $1,458,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,364 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Turning Point Brands by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 10,373 shares of the company's stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.12% of the company's stock.

Turning Point Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TPB traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.50. 340,606 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 452,670. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.08 and a 12 month high of $102.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $79.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.84.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $107.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

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 $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Turning Point Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TPB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Turning Point Brands from $85.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Turning Point Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Friday, August 1st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Turning Point Brands news, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 10,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $817,236.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,171 shares in the company, valued at $769,639.57. This represents a 51.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Wexler sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total value of $1,898,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 330,186 shares in the company, valued at $25,074,324.84. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 110,300 shares of company stock worth $8,291,282. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Turning Point Brands 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.