MidCap Financial Investment Co. (NASDAQ:MFIC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

MidCap Financial Investment Co. (NASDAQ:MFIC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 805,700 shares, an increase of 167.2% from the February 28th total of 301,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 467,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of MidCap Financial Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MFIC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in MidCap Financial Investment by 273.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 141,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after buying an additional 103,741 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MidCap Financial Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $692,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in MidCap Financial Investment by 190,106.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 123,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 123,569 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in MidCap Financial Investment by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 384,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,116,000 after purchasing an additional 93,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MidCap Financial Investment by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 81,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 34,875 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MidCap Financial Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.60.

MidCap Financial Investment Stock Down 1.5 %

MFIC stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.04. 469,620 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 388,728. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 8.51 and a current ratio of 8.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.59. MidCap Financial Investment has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $16.37.

MidCap Financial Investment (NASDAQ:MFIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. MidCap Financial Investment had a net margin of 37.05% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $82.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.28 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MidCap Financial Investment will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MidCap Financial Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.66%. MidCap Financial Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.03%.

About MidCap Financial Investment

MidCap Financial Investment Corporation (Former name Apollo Investment Corporation) is business development company and a closed-end, externally managed, non-diversified management investment company. It is elected to be treated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act) specializing in private equity investments in leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth capital, refinancing and private middle market companies.