Renaissance Technologies LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,309,315 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 198,893 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 5.28% of Vector Group worth $87,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Vector Group by 252.3% in the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in Vector Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $110,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vector Group in the first quarter worth approximately $112,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Vector Group during the second quarter worth $116,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Vector Group by 87.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 11,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 5,503 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.09% of the company's stock.

Vector Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Vector Group stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.92. The company had a trading volume of 2,233,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,420,575. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.04. Vector Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $9.27 and a 1-year high of $15.53. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $13.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.67.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $371.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $362.90 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vector Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. Vector Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Vector Group from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vector Group in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating for the company.

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.