StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Vector Group (NYSE:VGR)

Research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) in a research note issued on Saturday. The firm set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.

Separately, Barclays raised their price objective 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 Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE VGR opened at $14.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 1.04. Vector Group has a 12-month low of $9.27 and a 12-month high of $15.53.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. Vector Group had a negative return on equity of 26.96% and a net margin of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $371.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Vector Group will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vector Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vector Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,868,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,844,000 after buying an additional 283,371 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Vector Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,309,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,829,000 after purchasing an additional 198,893 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Vector Group by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,216,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,993,000 after purchasing an additional 103,633 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vector Group by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,181,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,946,000 after buying an additional 70,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Vector Group by 72.9% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 691,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,304,000 after buying an additional 291,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.09% of the company’s stock.

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.