Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 27,180 Shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,014,895 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,180 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.65% of Vector Group worth $11,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VGR. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vector Group by 239.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,451,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,249 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Vector Group during the 4th quarter worth about $10,533,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vector Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,140,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,369,000 after purchasing an additional 673,806 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of Vector Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,505,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Vector Group by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,236,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,662,000 after purchasing an additional 445,740 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.09% of the company’s stock.

Vector Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VGR opened at $9.93 on Friday. Vector Group Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $13.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.82.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.10. Vector Group had a net margin of 12.89% and a negative return on equity of 24.93%. The business had revenue of $360.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $357.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Vector Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.06%. Vector Group’s payout ratio is 68.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VGR. TheStreet cut shares of Vector Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vector Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th.

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.