Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 74,550 Shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,585,616 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,550 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.15% of Vector Group worth $198,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Portfolio Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Vector Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. Financial Counselors Inc. purchased a new position in Vector Group in the fourth quarter worth $138,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Vector Group in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vector Group by 1,028.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 17,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vector Group during the 4th quarter worth $276,000. 64.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vector Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th.

Vector Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Vector Group stock opened at $10.84 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.78. Vector Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $9.27 and a 12 month high of $13.43. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). Vector Group had a net margin of 12.98% and a negative return on equity of 25.89%. The firm had revenue of $324.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $333.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vector Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.38%. Vector Group’s payout ratio is 68.97%.

Vector Group Profile

Vector Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates in two segments, Tobacco and Real Estate. The company produces cigarettes under the Montego, EAGLE 20's, Pyramid, Grand Prix, Liggett Select, Eve, and USA brand names, as well as various partner and private label brands.