Head to Head Survey: Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) versus Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) and Altria Group (NYSE:MO) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Turning Point Brands has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Altria Group has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Turning Point Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.4% of Altria Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Turning Point Brands shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Altria Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Turning Point Brands and Altria Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Turning Point Brands	8.78%	11.35%	5.69%
Altria Group	34.51%	-330.66%	27.43%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Turning Point Brands and Altria Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Turning Point Brands	$507.23 million	2.68	$58.17 million	$2.33	30.13
Altria Group	$23.28 billion	5.58	$6.95 billion	$4.84	16.12

Altria Group has higher revenue and earnings than Turning Point Brands. Altria Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Turning Point Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Turning Point Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Altria Group pays an annual dividend of $4.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Turning Point Brands pays out 13.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Altria Group pays out 91.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Turning Point Brands has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Altria Group has raised its dividend for 56 consecutive years. Altria Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Turning Point Brands and Altria Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Turning Point Brands	1	1	3	0	2.40
Altria Group	2	6	5	0	2.23

Turning Point Brands presently has a consensus target price of $108.50, indicating a potential upside of 54.55%. Altria Group has a consensus target price of $71.67, indicating a potential downside of 8.15%. Given Turning Point Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Turning Point Brands is more favorable than Altria Group.

Summary

Altria Group beats Turning Point Brands on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Stoker’s Products segment manufactures and markets moist snuff tobacco and loose-leaf chewing tobacco products under the Stoker’s, Beech-Nut, Durango, Trophy, and Wind River brands. Its Creative Distribution Solutions segment market and distribute other products without tobacco and/or nicotine to individual consumers through VaporFi B2C online platform, as well as non-traditional retail through VaporBeast. In addition, it markets and distributes cannabis accessories and tobacco products. The company sells its products to wholesale distributors and retail merchants in the independent and chain convenience stores, tobacco outlets, food stores, mass merchandising, drug store, and non-traditional retail channels. The company was formerly known as North Atlantic Holding Company, Inc. and changed its name to Turning Point Brands, Inc. in November 2015. Turning Point Brands, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand. It sells its products to distributors, as well as large retail organizations, such as chain stores. The company was founded in 1822 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.