Short Interest in CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) Grows By 50.3%

CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 349,400 shares, an increase of 50.3% from the February 28th total of 232,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 317,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of CION Investment in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Institutional Trading of CION Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in CION Investment during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CION Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in CION Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in CION Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of CION Investment during the third quarter valued at about $127,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.01% of the company’s stock.

CION Investment Stock Performance

CION Investment stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.39. 537,425 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 236,591. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.71 and its 200-day moving average is $11.66. The firm has a market cap of $550.69 million, a PE ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 1.11. CION Investment has a 52 week low of $10.16 and a 52 week high of $12.71.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $87.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.11 million. CION Investment had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 31.21%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CION Investment will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CION Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. CION Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 228.57%.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies.