Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Sets New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $10.85 and last traded at $10.60, with a volume of 57101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.78.

Barings BDC Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $9.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.69.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $70.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $69.35 million. Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.94%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.17%. Barings BDC's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Barings BDC news, Director Stephen R. Byers purchased 8,485 shares of Barings BDC stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $82,559.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $486,509.73. This trade represents a 20.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael James O'connor sold 29,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 14,048 shares of company stock worth $136,772. 0.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barings BDC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBDC. Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 252,518 shares of the company's stock worth $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 70,722 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 442,621 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Barings BDC by 38.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 322,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 90,390 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in Barings BDC by 2.8% in 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. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Barings BDC in the fourth quarter worth about $314,000. 44.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barings BDC Company Profile

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.