Universal (UVV) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in VGR or UVV?

Vector Group received 84 more outperform votes than Universal when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.18% of users gave Vector Group an outperform vote while only 58.33% of users gave Universal an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Vector Group	Outperform Votes 266 63.18%	Underperform Votes 155 36.82%
Universal	Outperform Votes 182 58.33%	Underperform Votes 130 41.67%

Do analysts rate VGR or UVV?

Vector Group presently has a consensus target price of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.74%. Given Vector Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vector Group is more favorable than Universal.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vector Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Universal	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Is VGR or UVV more profitable?

Vector Group has a net margin of 14.05% compared to Universal's net margin of 4.31%. Universal's return on equity of 8.92% beat Vector Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vector Group	14.05%	-26.96%	19.30%
Universal	4.31%	8.92%	4.43%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in VGR or UVV?

64.1% of Vector Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.0% of Universal shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.1% of Vector Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Universal shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is VGR or UVV a better dividend stock?

Vector Group pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Universal pays an annual dividend of $3.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Vector Group pays out 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Universal pays out 66.7% 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. Universal is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to VGR or UVV?

In the previous week, Universal had 5 more articles in the media than Vector Group. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Universal and 0 mentions for Vector Group. Universal's average media sentiment score of 0.14 beat Vector Group's score of 0.00 indicating that Universal is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Vector Group	Neutral
Universal	Neutral

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, VGR or UVV?

Vector Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Universal. Universal is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vector Group, 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
Vector Group	$1.42B	1.66	$183.53M	$1.16	12.92
Universal	$2.75B	0.49	$119.60M	$4.86	11.20

Which has more risk and volatility, VGR or UVV?

Vector Group has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vector Group beats Universal on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.