Needham & Company LLC Begins Coverage on Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB)

Equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on TPB. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Turning Point Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Turning Point Brands from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Turning Point Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.67.

Turning Point Brands Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE TPB opened at $80.96 on Friday. Turning Point Brands has a 52-week low of $34.78 and a 52-week high of $84.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 4.42.

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $106.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.75 million. Turning Point Brands had a return on equity of 27.70% and a net margin of 10.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Turning Point Brands will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lawrence Wexler sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total value of $1,898,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 330,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,074,324.84. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brittani Cushman sold 7,500 shares of Turning Point Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.36, for a total transaction of $557,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 34,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,579,325.32. The trade was a 17.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,666,867 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Turning Point Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Turning Point Brands by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Turning Point Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Turning Point Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Turning Point Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings 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. 96.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.