Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $12.31 and last traded at $12.37, with a volume of 110189 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BCSF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Bain Capital Specialty Finance from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.00.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $805.04 million, a P/E ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $68.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.48 million. Bain Capital Specialty Finance had a net margin of 36.14% and a return on equity of 10.74%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.5%. This is a positive change from Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s payout ratio is 109.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bain Capital Specialty Finance

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,607,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,356,000 after purchasing an additional 114,883 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,452,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,696,000 after buying an additional 250,844 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,373,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,104,000 after buying an additional 67,132 shares in the last quarter. Melia Wealth LLC raised its stake in Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Melia Wealth LLC now owns 1,134,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,777,000 after buying an additional 10,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 784,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,907,000 after acquiring an additional 136,613 shares in the last quarter.

About Bain Capital Specialty Finance

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE: BCSF) is a closed-end interval fund organized as a specialty finance company. Since commencing operations in March 2017, the company has focused on originating and acquiring debt and equity investments in middle-market companies. It is structured to offer investors access to private credit and special situations strategies that are typically unavailable through traditional public debt markets.

The firm’s core business activities include direct lending to U.S.