Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,958 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vector Group were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VGR. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Vector Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,667,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,225,000 after buying an additional 262,368 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vector Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,140,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,369,000 after acquiring an additional 673,806 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Vector Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 7,364,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,444,000 after purchasing an additional 321,707 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vector Group by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,794,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,423,000 after purchasing an additional 90,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Vector Group by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,110,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,350,000 after purchasing an additional 99,315 shares during the period. 64.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Vector Group Trading Down 0.3 %

VGR stock opened at $9.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.81. Vector Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.80 and a 1 year high of $13.43.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.10. Vector Group had a negative return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 12.89%. The firm had revenue of $360.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $357.60 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vector Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.01%. Vector Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

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.