Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Stellus Capital Investment Price Performance

SCM opened at $14.23 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.08. Stellus Capital Investment has a 52-week low of $12.92 and a 52-week high of $15.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $391.47 million, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.04). Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 45.39% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The company had revenue of $25.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.60 million. On average, analysts expect that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.1333 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 10.88%. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 64,339 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $885,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 173,702 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Stellus Capital Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Condor Capital Management grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 183,778 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,973 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 5,314 shares during the last quarter. 13.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.