Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $10.85 and last traded at $10.60, with a volume of 57101 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.78.

Barings BDC Stock Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.85.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The company had revenue of $70.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.35 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.80%. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Barings BDC

In other Barings BDC news, Director Stephen R. Byers purchased 8,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.73 per share, for a total transaction of $82,559.05. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $486,509.73. This represents a 20.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total transaction of $285,412.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought 14,048 shares of company stock valued at $136,772 in the last quarter. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barings BDC

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barings BDC in the 4th quarter valued at about $135,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 2,333 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Barings BDC by 253.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 26,794 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Barings BDC by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 47,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 12,955 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Barings BDC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. 44.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barings BDC Company Profile

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.