Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 259,900 shares, a drop of 43.6% from the February 28th total of 461,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 172,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Stellus Capital Investment

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,949 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 6,197 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Stellus Capital Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 64,339 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the fourth quarter worth $3,328,000. Institutional investors own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SCM stock opened at $14.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.11. Stellus Capital Investment has a 52 week low of $12.92 and a 52 week high of $15.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $398.90 million, a PE ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 1.07.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.04). Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 45.39% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The firm had revenue of $25.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.60 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.1333 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a yield of 10.88%. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.89%.

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.