Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) Short Interest Update

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 567,000 shares, a decrease of 17.6% from the February 13th total of 688,500 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 536,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barings BDC

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in Barings BDC by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,084,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,516,000 after buying an additional 83,408 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Barings BDC by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,347,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,470,000 after purchasing an additional 79,994 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the fourth quarter valued at $16,542,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the third quarter valued at $10,549,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the fourth quarter valued at $8,891,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

Barings BDC Stock Performance

Shares of BBDC stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $9.59. 15,605 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 435,478. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.83. Barings BDC has a 1 year low of $8.95 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $70.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.35 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Barings BDC will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

About Barings BDC

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.