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Virtus Investment Partners (VRTS) Could Be a Great Choice

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Virtus Investment Partners in Focus

Virtus Investment Partners (VRTS - Free Report) is headquartered in Hartford, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -4.46% since the start of the year. The asset management company is paying out a dividend of $1.9 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.29% compared to the Financial - Investment Management industry's yield of 2.65% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.61%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $7.60 is up 10.9% from last year. In the past five-year period, Virtus Investment Partners has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 34.30%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Virtus's current payout ratio is 35%. This means it paid out 35% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

VRTS is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $25.82 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 17.63%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, VRTS presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).


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