Stellus Capital Investment Co. (SCM) To Go Ex-Dividend on July 31st

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) declared a monthly dividend on Wednesday, July 10th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of 0.133 per share by the investment management company on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st.

Stellus Capital Investment has raised its dividend payment by an average of 18.0% per year over the last three years. Stellus Capital Investment has a payout ratio of 94.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Stellus Capital Investment to earn $1.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 93.6%.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SCM stock opened at $14.39 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.52. The company has a market cap of $347.23 million, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.17. Stellus Capital Investment has a 12 month low of $12.19 and a 12 month high of $15.40.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The investment management company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $26.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.98 million. Stellus Capital Investment had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 24.08%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley upgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $12.50 to $13.25 in a research note on Monday, May 13th.

About Stellus Capital Investment

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.