Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) Upgraded to Hold at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Fidus Investment Stock Performance

Shares of FDUS opened at $19.07 on Monday. Fidus Investment has a 52-week low of $17.63 and a 52-week high of $20.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.65. The firm has a market cap of $601.73 million, a PE ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.40.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. Fidus Investment had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 67.43%. The firm had revenue of $35.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fidus Investment will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidus Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from Fidus Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.96%. Fidus Investment’s payout ratio is currently 59.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fidus Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fidus Investment by 250.8% during the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 92,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 65,924 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fidus Investment during the fourth quarter worth $1,475,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 15.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 600,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,861,000 after buying an additional 82,049 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 191.7% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 76,795 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 50,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.14% of the company’s stock.

About Fidus Investment

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans.