BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, an increase of 16.3% from the August 15th total of 1,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 447,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

BlackRock TCP Capital Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TCPC traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $8.67. 111,342 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,735. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.28. BlackRock TCP Capital has a 12-month low of $8.59 and a 12-month high of $12.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 44.47 and a quick ratio of 44.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $742.07 million, a P/E ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The investment management company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The business had revenue of $71.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.39 million. BlackRock TCP Capital had a positive return on equity of 14.42% and a negative net margin of 20.11%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock TCP Capital will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock TCP Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.69%. BlackRock TCP Capital’s payout ratio is 388.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TCPC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock TCP Capital from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $8.50 to $8.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Rajneesh Vig purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.09 per share, for a total transaction of $227,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,190,153.70. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Rajneesh Vig acquired 25,000 shares of BlackRock TCP Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.09 per share, for a total transaction of $227,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,190,153.70. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip M. Tseng bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.07 per share, with a total value of $45,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,481 shares in the company, valued at $158,552.67. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 42,000 shares of company stock worth $381,875. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock TCP Capital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barings LLC increased its stake in BlackRock TCP Capital by 3,878.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barings LLC now owns 17,492,789 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $188,922,000 after buying an additional 17,053,151 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 58.5% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,678,661 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $17,508,000 after buying an additional 619,519 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock TCP Capital in the first quarter worth $4,172,000. Condor Capital Management acquired a new stake in BlackRock TCP Capital in the first quarter valued at $3,887,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 61.5% during the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 780,960 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $8,434,000 after purchasing an additional 297,393 shares in the last quarter.

About BlackRock TCP Capital

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. is a business development company specializing in direct equity and debt investments in middle-market, small businesses, debt securities, senior secured loans, junior loans, originated loans, mezzanine, senior debt instruments, bonds, and secondary-market investments. It typically invests in communication services, public relations services, television, wireless telecommunication services, apparel, textile mills, restaurants, retailing, energy, oil and gas extraction, Patent owners and Lessors, Federal and Federally- Sponsored Credit agencies, insurance, hospital and healthcare centers, Biotechnology, engineering services, heavy electrical equipment, tax accounting, scientific and related consulting services, charter freight air transportation, Information technology consulting, application hosting services, software diagram and design, computer aided design, communication equipment, electronics manufacturing equipment, computer components, chemicals.