Capital Southwest Co. (NASDAQ:CSWC) Short Interest Update

Capital Southwest Co. (NASDAQ:CSWC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 848,500 shares, an increase of 85.9% from the August 31st total of 456,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 225,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Capital Southwest Price Performance

NASDAQ CSWC traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.50. 192,755 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 308,325. Capital Southwest has a 1-year low of $20.72 and a 1-year high of $27.23. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Capital Southwest (NASDAQ:CSWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.03). Capital Southwest had a net margin of 38.92% and a return on equity of 15.70%. The company had revenue of $51.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.31 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Capital Southwest will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Capital Southwest Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This is a positive change from Capital Southwest’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.04%. Capital Southwest’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capital Southwest

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new stake in Capital Southwest during the first quarter worth about $16,079,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Capital Southwest by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,059,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,635,000 after acquiring an additional 211,992 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Capital Southwest by 273.4% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 157,134 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,100,000 after purchasing an additional 115,051 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Capital Southwest in the 1st quarter valued at $2,391,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Capital Southwest in the second quarter worth $1,937,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, B. Riley reduced their target price on Capital Southwest from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

About Capital Southwest

Capital Southwest Corporation is a business development company specializing in credit and private equity and venture capital investments in middle market companies, mezzanine, later stage, mature, late venture, emerging growth, buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital investments. It does not invest in startups, publicly traded companies, real estate developments, project finance opportunities, oil and gas exploration businesses, troubled companies, turnarounds, and companies in which significant senior management is departing.