Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 4,500 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 27.4%, acquiring an additional 4,500 shares to total 20,953 shares, valued at approximately $3.6 million.
• Virtus Investment Partners announced a quarterly dividend increase from $2.25 to $2.40 per share, representing a 5.0% dividend yield.
• The company reported $6.25 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and had a strong revenue of $210.53 million for the last quarter.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,953 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.30% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTS. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in 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 bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. R Squared Ltd increased its stake in 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 position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the first quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $280,000. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTS opened at $192.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.28. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.18 and a 52-week high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.17 by $0.08. The firm 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 previous year, the business earned $6.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on VRTS shares. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners 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.

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