Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Short Interest Down 43.6% in March

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 259,900 shares, a decline of 43.6% from the February 28th total of 461,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 172,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company's stock are short sold.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Performance

Shares of Stellus Capital Investment stock remained flat at $14.00 on Tuesday. The stock had a trading volume of 205,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,711. Stellus Capital Investment has a fifty-two week low of $12.92 and a fifty-two week high of $15.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.12.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.04). Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 45.39% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The firm had revenue of $25.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.60 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.1333 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a yield of 10.88%. Stellus Capital Investment's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 64,339 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 173,702 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Condor Capital Management boosted its position in Stellus Capital Investment by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 183,778 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,973 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 5,314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Stellus Capital Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Stellus Capital Investment Company Profile

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.