Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) Short Interest Down 7.5% in December

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 573,800 shares, a decrease of 7.5% from the December 15th total of 620,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 426,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Barings BDC Trading Down 0.2 %

BBDC traded down $0.02 on Monday, hitting $9.71. 302,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,004. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.68. Barings BDC has a 12 month low of $8.67 and a 12 month high of $10.38.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 39.59%. The firm had revenue of $70.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Barings BDC will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Barings BDC news, Director Stephen R. Byers bought 8,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.73 per share, for a total transaction of $82,559.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,001 shares in the company, valued at $486,509.73. This trade represents a 20.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total transaction of $285,412.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 14,048 shares of company stock worth $136,772. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barings BDC

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its position in Barings BDC by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 252,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 70,722 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 148.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 740,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,257,000 after acquiring an additional 442,621 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 38.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 322,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,136,000 after acquiring an additional 90,390 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Barings BDC by 6.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,267,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,134,000 after acquiring an additional 129,410 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Barings BDC in the third quarter valued at $10,549,000. 44.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barings BDC Company Profile

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.