CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 349,400 shares, a growth of 50.3% from the February 28th total of 232,400 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 317,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

CION Investment Stock Performance

CION traded down $0.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $10.22. 354,255 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 236,485. The company has a market cap of $541.67 million, a P/E ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 1.11. CION Investment has a 12-month low of $10.14 and a 12-month high of $12.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.63.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $87.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $54.11 million. CION Investment had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 11.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CION Investment will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CION Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. CION Investment's payout ratio is presently 228.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of CION Investment in a research report on Monday, March 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CION Investment

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CION Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CION Investment during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CION Investment in the 4th quarter worth $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of CION Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at about $104,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CION Investment by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 10,966 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.01% of the company's stock.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies.