Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners stock opened at $176.80 on Monday. Virtus Investment Partners has a one year low of $142.18 and a one year high of $252.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $163.21 and its 200 day moving average is $196.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.47.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business had revenue of $217.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.41 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 53.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 204.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,119 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,957,000 after purchasing an additional 9,488 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $375,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,098 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 395 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

About Virtus Investment Partners

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to individual and institutional clients. It launches separate client focused equity and fixed income portfolios. The firm launches equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds for its clients.