Virtus Investment Partners (NYSE:VRTS) Is Paying Out A Larger Dividend Than Last Year

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NYSE:VRTS) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 13th of November to $2.25. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 4.4%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Virtus Investment Partners

Virtus Investment Partners' Projected Earnings Seem Likely To Cover Future Distributions

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Virtus Investment Partners' earnings. This indicates that a lot of the earnings are being reinvested into the business, with the aim of fueling growth.

Looking forward, earnings per share could rise by 9.4% over the next year if the trend from the last few years continues. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 56% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

Virtus Investment Partners Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $1.80 in 2014, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $9.00. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 17% over that duration. It is good to see that there has been strong dividend growth, and that there haven't been any cuts for a long time.

Virtus Investment Partners Could Grow Its Dividend

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. It's encouraging to see that Virtus Investment Partners has been growing its earnings per share at 9.4% a year over the past five years. Shareholders are getting plenty of the earnings returned to them, which combined with strong growth makes this quite appealing.

Virtus Investment Partners Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that Virtus Investment Partners is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Now, if you want to look closer, it would be worth checking out our free research on Virtus Investment Partners management tenure, salary, and performance. Is Virtus Investment Partners not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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