Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in 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 trading volume of 418,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Barings BDC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BBDC traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.88. The company had a trading volume of 82,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 462,791. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Barings BDC has a 1-year low of $7.60 and a 1-year high of $10.27.

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

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Barings BDC news, insider Michael Freno purchased 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $267,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 71,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $692,240.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barings BDC

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBDC. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Barings BDC during the 3rd quarter worth about $913,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 104.8% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 40,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 20,479 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 6.4% during the third 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 period. JT Stratford LLC purchased a new position in Barings BDC during the third quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Barings BDC by 576.5% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 15,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 13,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

About Barings BDC

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.