Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Stake Raised by Algert Global LLC

Key Points

• Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 6.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,870 shares to reach a total of 28,787 shares valued at approximately $4.96 million.
• Virtus Investment Partners announced a quarterly dividend of $2.40 per share, increasing from a previous $2.25, with a yield of 5.0% based on the annual payout.
• The company's stock has a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, with projections suggesting an EPS of 27.7 for the current year.

Algert Global LLC grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,787 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 1,870 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC owned approximately 0.42% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $4,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gator Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 190.7% during the 1st quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 60,810 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $10,481,000 after buying an additional 39,895 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 113,192 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $19,510,000 after buying an additional 31,454 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 12,103 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,086,000 after buying an additional 3,381 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 20,953 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the 1st quarter worth $9,639,000. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRTS. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners stock traded up $11.2580 during trading on Friday, hitting $200.3080. The stock had a trading volume of 148,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 70,186. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $193.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.26. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $210.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.90 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.40 per share. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.74%.

Virtus Investment Partners Company Profile

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.