UPDATE: Jefferies Initiates Coverage on Virtus Investment Partners on Solid Platform, Limited Upside

In a report published Thursday, Jefferies analyst Surinder Thind initiated coverage on

with a Hold rating and $175.00 price target. In the report, Jefferies noted, “We are initiating coverage of VRTS with a HOLD rating and $175 price target. We believe VRTS has the potential to continue growing at an above industry pace over the next few years. However, near-term the company faces headwinds from lackluster 1-year fund performance and notable exposure to fixed income, which make it more challenging to outperform equity-centric peers. Given these factors, at 16x our 2014 EPS estimate, we see limited upside in the shares.” Virtus Investment Partners closed on Wednesday at $155.36.