Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) Short Interest Down 18.6% in March

Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 116,900 shares, a decline of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 143,700 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 46,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Portman Ridge Finance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Portman Ridge Finance Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PTMN traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.25. 66,831 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 45,753. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.68 million, a P/E ratio of 33.11 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a current ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.42. Portman Ridge Finance has a twelve month low of $11.60 and a twelve month high of $20.84.

Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.08). Portman Ridge Finance had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 5.47%. The business had revenue of $14.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.14 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Portman Ridge Finance will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Portman Ridge Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.35%. Portman Ridge Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -293.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Portman Ridge Finance in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $152,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in Portman Ridge Finance by 3,000.0% in the first quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 15,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC raised its position in Portman Ridge Finance by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 29,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 6,031 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 62,217 shares of the company's stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 6.1% in the first quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 64,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 3,693 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.14% of the company's stock.

Portman Ridge Finance Company Profile

Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business.