Insider Buying: Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) COO Purchases $103,200.00 in Stock

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) COO Richard Lampen purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.32 per share, for a total transaction of $103,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 797,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,231,510.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Vector Group Price Performance

Shares of Vector Group stock opened at $10.83 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.12. Vector Group Ltd. has a one year low of $8.64 and a one year high of $14.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.11.

Vector Group (NYSE:VGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $365.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $408.20 million. Vector Group had a net margin of 11.09% and a negative return on equity of 21.19%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vector Group Ltd. will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Vector Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.39%. Vector Group’s payout ratio is 79.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Vector Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 66,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in Vector Group during the 1st quarter valued at $563,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Vector Group by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,073,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,189,000 after acquiring an additional 270,606 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vector Group by 1,509.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,026,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,327,000 after acquiring an additional 962,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ETF Managers Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vector Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 299,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 26,183 shares during the last quarter. 64.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vector Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

About Vector Group

Vector Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cigarettes in the United States. It operates in two segments, Tobacco and Real Estate. The company produces cigarettes under the EAGLE 20's, Pyramid, Montego, Grand Prix, Liggett Select, Eve, and USA brand names, as well as various partner and private label brands.