Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Rating Increased 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 research report released on Monday morning.

VRTS has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of VRTS opened at $171.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.35 and its 200 day moving average is $196.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. Virtus Investment Partners has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last posted its 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The firm had revenue of $217.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 53.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 170.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 395 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $93,000. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.