Virtu Financial (VIRT): Why Does the Smart Money Love This Stock?

My 2025 stock market outlook strongly favored financials. This was especially true after Trump got re-elected with a pledge to lower regulations.

As you probably know, there are very few industries more regulated than financials. So any improvement on that front will certainly be a catalyst for higher growth and share prices.

Now add in their recent beat and raise earnings report and you start to understand why Virtu Financial (VIRT) is my Stock of the Week selection. 

Virtu specializes in market making and execution services. Both of which are highly regulated areas.

Even if there is no immediate help on the regulatory horizon they are still riding a wave of 6 straight earnings beats with earnings estimates flying higher. The most recent 11% beat seems modest on the surface til you realize how much they raised guidance. 

This has Wall Street analysts pounding the table on their growth prospects with $4.94 EPS expected this year vs. $3.55 last year. This points to 39% year over year growth. 

Surprisingly with this much growth shares are only trading for a PE of 9. That is a hard value proposition to overlook when the average stock in the S&P 500 trades for nearly 24X earnings. 

Now let’s dive into the Zen Ratings 115 factor analysis of the stock which rates it in the top 15% overall for the 4,600 stocks in the model. On top of that we find… 

Top 17% AI Rating

Top 16% Momentum

Top 11% Sentiment which means the “Smart Money” crowd is already on board. 

Speaking of the smart money crowd, Patrick Moley of Piper Sandler is in the Top 1% of all Wall Street analysts based on his stock picking performance. He has only affixed a Strong Buy rating to 16 stocks. And yes, VIRT is one of those rarified picks. 

Just like Patrick Moley, I find a lot to like about VIRT. 

In fact, I could easily see VIRT moving up to 15X earnings and trading for $75+ by the end of next year. That makes it very attractive to scoop up shares now in the low 40’s. 

What To Do Next?

Virtu Financial (VIRT) is just one of 20 stellar stocks found in my Zen Investor portfolio.

Each of these 20 stocks was selected based on my stringent process that helps pinpoint those with 100%+ upside potential.

And that same process has pinpointed 2 new stocks that will be released this Wednesday August 7th.  

To learn more about my investment process…and to see my current top 20 stock recommendations…and the 2 stocks coming Wednesday…then just click the link below: 

Discover the Zen Investor portfolio & Top 20 Stocks Now > 

Wishing you a world of investment success!

Steve Reitmeister…but everyone calls me Reity (pronounced “Righty”)

Editor of the Zen Investor

What to Do Next?

• 9 Special Stock Lists You Need Now >
• See All “A” Rated Stocks with +32.52% Average Annual Return >
• 2 New Stocks to Buy from Steve Reitmeister >

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