Foundry Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $173,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Vector Group by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 57,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 15,610 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vector Group by 7.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 29,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Vector Group by 9.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Vector Group by 14.0% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 20,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 2,473 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vector Group during the 1st quarter valued at $175,000. 64.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Vector Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Vector Group Stock Performance

Shares of VGR stock remained flat at $11.84 during trading hours on Friday. 132,944 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,221,467. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.77. Vector Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.27 and a 1 year high of $13.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). Vector Group had a net margin of 12.98% and a negative return on equity of 25.89%. The company had revenue of $324.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $333.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Vector Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.76%. Vector Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.