Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC - Free Report) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,696 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 103,742 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.40% of Barings BDC worth $4,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 393.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Barings BDC in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Barings BDC during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Barings BDC during the fourth quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barings BDC in the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Barings BDC from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Barings BDC Trading Up 1.3 %

Barings BDC stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $8.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 104,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,310. The stock's fifty day moving average is $9.54 and its 200 day moving average is $9.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. Barings BDC, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.66 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $913.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.00%. Barings BDC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.