Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:GAIN) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 909,936 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 334% from the previous session’s volume of 209,574 shares.The stock last traded at $14.0960 and had previously closed at $13.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GAIN shares. Wall Street Zen raised Gladstone Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gladstone Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a report on Monday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gladstone Investment presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Gladstone Investment Stock Down 0.2%

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $558.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.82.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The investment management company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $25.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.83 million. Gladstone Investment had a net margin of 118.55% and a return on equity of 6.77%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gladstone Investment Corporation will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Gladstone Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Gladstone Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 30.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gladstone Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gladstone Investment by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,460 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in Gladstone Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $140,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Gladstone Investment by 395.5% in the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 88,410 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 70,566 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Gladstone Investment by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 66,229 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gladstone Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gladstone Investment Company Profile

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ: GAIN) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that focuses on providing debt and equity financing to U.S. middle-market companies. As an externally managed closed-end fund, Gladstone Investment seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation for its shareholders by originating senior secured debt, subordinated debt and equity investments. The firm typically targets established businesses with revenues between $10 million and $150 million, across a range of industry sectors including business services, health care, industrials and specialty manufacturing.

The company’s investment strategy centers on deploying capital through first-lien and second-lien term loans, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments, often including warrants or other equity kickers.