Denali Advisors LLC Increases Position in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Vector Group worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VGR. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its position in shares of Vector Group by 78.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 666,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,046,000 after acquiring an additional 293,338 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vector Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,868,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,844,000 after buying an additional 283,371 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Vector Group by 2.5% in 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 during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vector Group by 1,098.6% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 190,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,018,000 after buying an additional 174,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Vector Group by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,216,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,993,000 after buying an additional 103,633 shares during the period. 64.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vector Group Stock Performance

Vector Group stock opened at $14.92 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.04. Vector Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.27 and a 1 year high of $15.53.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $371.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.90 million. Vector Group had a net margin of 14.05% and a negative return on equity of 26.96%. Equities analysts expect that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Vector Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Vector Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Vector Group from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vector Group in a report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

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.