Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Shares Bought by Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.8% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 0.92% of the company worth $11 million.
• Virtus Investment Partners announced a dividend increase to $2.40 per share, up from $2.25, representing a yield of 4.8%, with the ex-dividend date set for October 31st.
• The company reported earnings of $6.25 per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing estimates and achieving $210.53 million in revenue.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,830 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 2,940 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.92% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $11,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 11.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,376 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $931,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 55.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,035 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,999 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 35.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,849 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 8,517.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,814 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 6.0%

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners stock opened at $200.3080 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $193.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.35. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 11.86, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.18 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $210.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.90 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.40 per share. This is an increase from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 price target on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtus Investment Partners presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $188.25.

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.

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