Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) Short Interest Up 5.5% in November

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 589,400 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the November 15th total of 558,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 380,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen R. Byers purchased 8,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.73 per share, for a total transaction of $82,559.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $486,509.73. The trade was a 20.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael James O'connor sold 29,424 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 purchased 14,048 shares of company stock valued at $136,772 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barings BDC

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Barings BDC by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,267,897 shares of the company's stock worth $22,134,000 after purchasing an additional 129,410 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the third quarter worth $10,549,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Barings BDC by 148.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 740,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,257,000 after acquiring an additional 442,621 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Barings BDC by 1.2% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 515,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,050,000 after acquiring an additional 5,907 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Barings BDC by 8.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 350,659 shares of the company's stock worth $3,436,000 after purchasing an additional 26,420 shares during the last quarter. 44.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barings BDC Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:BBDC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.55. 904,005 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,870. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Barings BDC has a one year low of $8.55 and a one year high of $10.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.87.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a net margin of 39.59% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The company had revenue of $70.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Barings BDC will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. Barings BDC's dividend payout ratio is currently 96.30%.

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.