Virtus Advisers LLC Makes New $589,000 Investment in Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC has invested approximately $589,000 in Turning Point Brands, acquiring nearly 9,909 shares of the company in the first quarter.
• Various institutional investors, including Teacher Retirement System of Texas, have significantly increased their stakes in Turning Point Brands, with hedge funds and other institutions collectively owning about 96.12% of the company’s stock.
• Turning Point Brands recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, showing a 25.1% year-over-year revenue increase and a net margin of 10.34%.

Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $589,000. Virtus Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Turning Point Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TPB. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,301 shares of the company's stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,618 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,264 shares of the company's stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 3,990 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 10,373 shares of the company's stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 29.0% in the 4th 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. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in Turning Point Brands by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 4,700 shares of the company's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in 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 for the company. Oppenheimer upped 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Turning Point Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Turning Point Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Insider Activity at Turning Point Brands

In related news, Director Lawrence Wexler sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total transaction of $1,898,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 330,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,074,324.84. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen Usher sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.25, for a total transaction of $45,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $464,668.75. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,291,282 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Turning Point Brands Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:TPB traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $99.39. 424,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 450,366. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.08 and a 12-month high of $102.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 4.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 41.58 and a beta of 0.66.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $116.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Turning Point Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 25.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Turning Point Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Turning Point Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Turning Point Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.