Creative Planning Has $622,000 Stock Holdings in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Creative Planning reduced its stake in shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,843 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,297 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Vector Group were worth $622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VGR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vector Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,585,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,366,000 after buying an additional 74,550 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vector Group by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 36,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vector Group by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 73,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 4,701 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Vector Group by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 35,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 12,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Vector Group by 27.9% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 130,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 28,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VGR shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vector Group in a report on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Vector Group from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

Vector Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of VGR opened at $14.99 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $14.61 and its 200 day moving average is $12.21. Vector Group Ltd. has a 12-month low of $9.27 and a 12-month high of $15.53.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $371.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.90 million. Vector Group had a net margin of 14.05% and a negative return on equity of 26.96%. On average, analysts expect that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Vector Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.34%. Vector Group’s payout ratio is 68.97%.

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.