Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) in a research report issued on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Separately, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Vector Group from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Vector Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VGR opened at $14.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.04. Vector Group has a 1 year low of $9.27 and a 1 year high of $15.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.98.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $371.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.90 million. Vector Group had a negative return on equity of 26.96% and a net margin of 14.05%. On average, research analysts expect that Vector Group will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vector Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VGR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vector Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,868,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,844,000 after purchasing an additional 283,371 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Vector Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,309,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,829,000 after buying an additional 198,893 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vector Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,216,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,993,000 after acquiring an additional 103,633 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Vector Group by 6.4% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,181,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,946,000 after acquiring an additional 70,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in Vector Group by 72.9% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 691,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,304,000 after acquiring an additional 291,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.09% of the company’s stock.

Vector Group Company 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.