Financial Counselors Inc. Buys New Stake in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Financial Counselors Inc. bought a new stake in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP raised its position in Vector Group by 82.1% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Vector Group by 51.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Vector Group by 187.4% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Vector Group during the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Antonetti Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vector Group by 34.6% during the third quarter. Antonetti Capital Management LLC now owns 5,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 64.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vector Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Vector Group stock opened at $9.85 on Monday. Vector Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $9.80 and a 52-week high of $13.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.82.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $360.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $357.60 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vector Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Vector Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Vector Group

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.