Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Position Boosted by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 138.4%, owning approximately 0.07% of the company, worth $819,000 as of its last SEC filing.
• Virtus Investment Partners announced a quarterly dividend of $2.40 per share, an increase from the previous $2.25, with a yield of 4.8%.
• The company reported earnings of $6.25 per share for the last quarter, which exceeded analysts' expectations, alongside a revenue of $210.53 million.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 138.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,787 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 2,779 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.07% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $819,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 30.2% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 366 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the first quarter worth about $219,000. R Squared Ltd increased its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 311.8% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,400 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the first quarter worth about $253,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $280,000. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRTS. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective 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 Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

VRTS stock traded down $5.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $192.80. The company had a trading volume of 131,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 70,993. The company has a quick ratio of 11.86, a current ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $197.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.00. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $2.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.74%.

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.