Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) Short Interest Down 38.5% in July

Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 145,400 shares, a drop of 38.5% from the June 30th total of 236,600 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 224,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Fidus Investment Price Performance

NASDAQ:FDUS traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.54. The stock had a trading volume of 80,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,798. The company has a market capitalization of $616.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.40. Fidus Investment has a 1-year low of $17.63 and a 1-year high of $21.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.69.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59. The business had revenue of $34.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.46 million. Fidus Investment had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 60.25%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fidus Investment will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidus Investment Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.80%. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidus Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFG Advisors boosted its stake in Fidus Investment by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 171,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,383,000 after acquiring an additional 38,846 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fidus Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,475,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Fidus Investment by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 4,143 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Fidus Investment by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 78,763 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 7,493 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Fidus Investment by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 518,813 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,215,000 after acquiring an additional 122,168 shares during the period. 28.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fidus Investment

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans.