Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Decreases Position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC sold 45,373 shares of Turning Point Brands, reducing its holdings by 50.6% and now owns 44,220 shares valued at approximately $2.63 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Wells Fargo and Russell Investments, have made significant adjustments to their positions in Turning Point Brands, with ownership among institutional investors now at 96.12%.
• Turning Point Brands has received mixed ratings from analysts, with target prices ranging from $78.83 to $98.00, indicating strong while maintaining an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB - Free Report) by 50.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,220 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,373 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.25% of Turning Point Brands worth $2,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 243,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,646,000 after acquiring an additional 2,667 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 189,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,364,000 after acquiring an additional 33,080 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 160,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,639,000 after acquiring an additional 11,808 shares during the period. Northern Right Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 356.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Right Capital Management L.P. now owns 134,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,075,000 after acquiring an additional 104,931 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 121,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,240,000 after acquiring an additional 67,005 shares during the period. 96.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Turning Point Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Turning Point Brands in a research report on Friday, August 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Turning Point Brands from $85.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Turning Point Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Turning Point Brands

In other news, CEO Graham Purdy sold 21,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $1,602,646.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,034,928.74. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen Usher sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.25, for a total transaction of $45,150.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,668.75. The trade was a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,300 shares of company stock worth $8,291,282. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Turning Point Brands Stock Performance

TPB traded up $0.4280 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.6780. 163,734 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 271,496. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $81.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.71 and a beta of 0.66. 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.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.19. Turning Point Brands had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 25.32%. The business had revenue of $116.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Turning Point Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Turning Point Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.55%.

About Turning Point Brands

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.