Arizona State Retirement System Has $420,000 Holdings in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,729 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Vector Group were worth $420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Vector Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 357,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Vector Group by 8.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Vector Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 44,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Vector Group by 2.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 67,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vector Group by 12.6% in the second quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.09% of the company’s stock.

Vector Group Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:VGR opened at $14.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.04. Vector Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $9.27 and a 12-month high of $15.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 company 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, research analysts expect that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Vector Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.36%. Vector Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on Vector Group in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Vector Group from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

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.