Universal (UVV) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, UVV or VGR?

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

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer 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%

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	0.43	$119.60M	$4.77	10.05
Vector Group	$1.42B	1.21	$183.53M	$1.16	9.46

Do analysts rate 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 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%

Does the media favor UVV or VGR?

In the previous week, Vector Group had 1 more articles in the media than Universal. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Vector Group and 4 mentions for Universal. Universal's average media sentiment score of 1.04 beat Vector Group's score of 1.01 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)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vector Group	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is UVV or VGR a better dividend stock?

Universal pays an annual dividend of $3.24 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 67.9% 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.

Summary

Vector Group beats Universal on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.