Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Purchases 293,338 Shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR - Free Report) by 78.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 666,609 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 293,338 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned 0.42% of Vector Group worth $7,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Vector Group by 252.3% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 6,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325 shares during the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Vector Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vector Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Vector Group in the second quarter worth approximately $116,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Vector Group by 87.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 11,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 5,503 shares in the last quarter. 64.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on VGR shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Vector Group in a research report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vector Group from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Vector Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VGR traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $14.92. 1,731,062 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,416,009. The company's 50-day moving average price is $13.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.67. Vector Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $9.27 and a 1-year high of $15.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 EPS 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 company had revenue of $371.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.90 million. On average, research analysts expect that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Vector Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.36%. Vector Group's dividend 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.