Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) Shares Bought by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 357,738 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.23% of Vector Group worth $3,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Vector Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,868,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,844,000 after purchasing an additional 283,371 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 174,962 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vector Group by 373.4% in the 1st quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 121,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 95,600 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Vector Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,160,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,654,000 after buying an additional 90,202 shares during the period. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vector Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $949,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on VGR shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Vector Group in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Vector Group from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Vector Group Price Performance

NYSE VGR opened at $14.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.67.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $371.91 million for 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, equities research analysts expect that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vector Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Vector Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.