Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Purchases New Position in Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $529,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Turning Point Brands by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,364 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Turning Point Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Prescott General Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Turning Point Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $210,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Turning Point Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $234,000. 96.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TPB shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Turning Point Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Alliance Global Partners started coverage on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $85.00 target price on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Turning Point Brands from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Turning Point Brands has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory H.A. Baxter sold 1,500 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.64, for a total transaction of $110,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,976,455.16. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Brian Wigginton sold 3,500 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $265,125.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $770,453.25. This trade represents a 25.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE TPB traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.33. 129,425 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 169,848. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 4.21. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.61 and a twelve month high of $81.05.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $106.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.75 million. Turning Point Brands had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 33.14%. The business's revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Turning Point Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

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.