Monument Capital Management Takes $195,000 Position in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Monument Capital Management bought a new stake in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VGR. Private Portfolio Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vector Group in the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. Financial Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vector Group in the fourth quarter worth about $138,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Vector Group in the third quarter worth about $158,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vector Group in the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vector Group by 1,028.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 17,178 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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 Price Performance

Shares of Vector Group stock opened at $10.96 on Thursday. Vector Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.27 and a 1 year high of $13.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.03.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Vector Group had a negative return on equity of 25.89% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $324.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $333.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Vector Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. Vector Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

About Vector Group

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.