Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $10.38 and last traded at $10.35, with a volume of 209371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.23.

Barings BDC Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.69.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a net margin of 39.59% and a return on equity of 11.24%. Research analysts expect that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.89%. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Barings BDC news, Director Stephen R. Byers purchased 8,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $82,559.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,001 shares in the company, valued at $486,509.73. The trade was a 20.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of Barings BDC stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have purchased 14,048 shares of company stock valued at $136,772 over the last ninety days. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barings BDC

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Barings BDC by 393.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Barings BDC in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barings BDC during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,000. 44.09% of the stock is currently 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.