Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) Short Interest Up 14.2% in June

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 680,600 shares, an increase of 14.2% from the May 31st total of 596,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 418,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Barings BDC from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd.

Insider Activity at Barings BDC

In other Barings BDC news, insider Michael Freno bought 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $267,575.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 71,145 shares in the company, valued at $692,240.85. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in Barings BDC in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $913,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Barings BDC in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $815,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Barings BDC by 1,692.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after buying an additional 252,079 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in Barings BDC by 104.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 40,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 20,479 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 395,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,528,000 after purchasing an additional 23,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

Barings BDC Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BBDC stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $9.85. 97,038 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 462,890. Barings BDC has a 1-year low of $7.60 and a 1-year high of $10.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.67.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 4th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). Barings BDC had a net margin of 45.35% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The firm had revenue of $69.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Barings BDC will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.56%. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.55%.

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.