Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Short Interest Down 43.6% in March

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 259,900 shares, a decrease of 43.6% from the February 28th total of 461,100 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 172,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of SCM traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.26. The stock had a trading volume of 192,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,125. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.11. The company has a market cap of $392.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 1.07. Stellus Capital Investment has a 1-year low of $12.92 and a 1-year high of $15.56.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Stellus Capital Investment had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 45.39%. The business had revenue of $25.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.60 million. Equities research analysts expect that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.1333 dividend. This represents a yield of 10.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCM. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 64,339 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 173,702 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Condor Capital Management increased its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 183,778 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,973 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 5,314 shares in the last quarter. 13.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stellus Capital Investment Company Profile

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.