Universal (UVV) Competitors

Universal (NYSE:UVV) and Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, community ranking and profitability.

Is UVV or VGR more profitable?

Vector Group has a net margin of 12.98% compared to Universal's net margin of 4.35%. Universal's return on equity of 8.81% beat Vector Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Universal	4.35%	8.81%	4.41%
Vector Group	12.98%	-25.89%	19.33%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in UVV or VGR?

81.0% of Universal shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.1% of Vector Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Universal shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Vector Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better valuation and earnings, UVV or VGR?

Vector Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Universal. Vector Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Universal, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Universal	$2.75B	0.42	$119.60M	$4.77	9.91
Vector Group	$1.42B	1.21	$183.53M	$1.16	9.40

Does the media favor UVV or VGR?

In the previous week, Universal had 2 more articles in the media than Vector Group. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Universal and 4 mentions for Vector Group. Universal's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Vector Group's score of 0.84 indicating that Universal is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Universal	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vector Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in UVV or VGR?

Vector Group received 69 more outperform votes than Universal when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.82% of users gave Vector Group an outperform vote while only 58.33% of users gave Universal an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Universal	Outperform Votes 182 58.33%	Underperform Votes 130 41.67%
Vector Group	Outperform Votes 251 61.82%	Underperform Votes 155 38.18%

Do analysts prefer UVV or VGR?

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Universal	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A
Vector Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Is UVV or VGR a better dividend stock?

Universal pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Vector Group pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.3%. Universal pays out 67.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vector Group pays out 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Which has more volatility & risk, UVV or VGR?

Universal has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vector Group has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vector Group beats Universal on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.