HARTFORD, Conn., August 29, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Virtus Dividend, Interest & Premium Strategy Fund (NYSE: NFJ) today announced it will increase its quarterly distribution from $0.280 per share to $0.305 per share, an increase of 9% or $0.025 per share, effective with the September distribution:

The Fund previously increased its quarterly distribution by $0.035 per share in March 2024, for a cumulative increase of 23% this year. This increase is part of the Fund’s ongoing efforts to enhance shareholder value by both seeking to provide a more attractive distribution rate and furthering its efforts to reduce the current discount to net asset value at which its shares currently trade.

This new distribution rate represents a per annum rate of approximately 9.5% based on the market price of the Fund’s shares of $12.83 as of the close of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, and approximately 8.3% based on the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) of $14.75 as of the same date.

Under the terms of its Managed Distribution Plan, the Fund will seek to maintain a consistent distribution level that may be paid in part or in full, from net investment income and realized capital gains, or a combination thereof. Shareholders should note, however, that if the Fund's aggregate net investment income and net realized capital gains are less than the amount of the distribution level, the difference will be distributed from the Fund's assets and will constitute a return of the shareholder's capital. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund’s investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund’s Managed Distribution Plan.

The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund’s investment performance and should not be confused with ‘yield’ or ‘income’.

The Fund provides this estimate of the sources of its distributions:

Information regarding the Fund’s performance and distribution rates is set forth below. Please note that all performance figures are based on the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) and not the market price of the Fund’s shares. Performance figures are not meant to represent individual shareholder performance.