Stellus Capital Investment Co. (SCM) to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.13 on April 15th

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) declared a monthly dividend on Friday, January 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.1333 per share by the investment management company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th.

Stellus Capital Investment has raised its dividend by an average of 16.6% annually over the last three years. Stellus Capital Investment has a dividend payout ratio of 112.7% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Stellus Capital Investment to earn $1.45 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 110.3%.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Up 1.5 %

SCM stock opened at $14.47 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.65 and its 200-day moving average is $14.10. Stellus Capital Investment has a twelve month low of $12.92 and a twelve month high of $15.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $398.21 million, a PE ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $25.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.60 million. Stellus Capital Investment had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 45.39%. Sell-side analysts expect that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Stellus Capital Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.