Vest Financial LLC Buys 17,046 Shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. $TPB

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) by 118.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 31,398 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Turning Point Brands were worth $3,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Turning Point Brands by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Turning Point Brands by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 54.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Turning Point Brands by 1.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Flynn sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $195,140.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,353.51. The trade was a 17.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Turning Point Brands Trading Up 0.1%

TPB opened at $77.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 4.12, a current ratio of 5.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $91.80 and a 200-day moving average of $101.58. Turning Point Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.46 and a 52 week high of $146.90.

Turning Point Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 20th. This is an increase from Turning Point Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Turning Point Brands’s payout ratio is presently 10.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Turning Point Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Turning Point Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Turning Point Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Turning Point Brands in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.67.

Turning Point Brands Company Profile

Turning Point Brands, Inc (NYSE: TPB) is a U.S.-based consumer products company focused on the manufacture, marketing and distribution of smokeless tobacco, vaping and cigar products. Headquartered in Old Hickory, Tennessee, the company serves retail outlets across all 50 states through a direct-store-delivery network and select third-party distributors. Turning Point Brands operates two reporting segments—Smokeless Products and Cigar—and leverages its logistics capabilities to offer a broad portfolio of brands and SKUs.

In its Smokeless Products segment, Turning Point Brands produces moist smokeless tobacco under leading brand names such as Grizzly, Kodiak and Stoker’s.