Denali Advisors LLC Buys 95,600 Shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 373.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,600 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of Vector Group worth $1,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vector Group by 24.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,249,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,291,000 after purchasing an additional 243,214 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Vector Group by 9.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 38,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Vector Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Vector Group by 19.7% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 121,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 20,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vector Group by 14.0% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 822,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,747,000 after acquiring an additional 101,171 shares in the last quarter. 64.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vector Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th.

Vector Group Stock Performance

VGR traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.96. The stock had a trading volume of 485,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,421. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.03. Vector Group Ltd. has a twelve month low of $9.27 and a twelve month high of $13.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.78.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 25.89% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $324.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $333.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Vector Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.30%. 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.