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

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 747,600 shares, a growth of 31.9% from the February 28th total of 567,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 521,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Barings BDC Price Performance

BBDC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $9.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 504,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,248. The stock has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Barings BDC has a 12 month low of $8.95 and a 12 month high of $10.85.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 38.54%. The business had revenue of $70.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.35 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Barings BDC will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barings BDC

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBDC. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Barings BDC in the fourth quarter worth $16,542,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the 3rd quarter worth about $10,549,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barings BDC during the 4th quarter worth about $8,891,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Barings BDC by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 705,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,753,000 after purchasing an additional 324,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Icon Advisers Inc. Co. purchased a new stake in Barings BDC in the 4th quarter worth about $2,577,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

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.