Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Short Interest Up 41.1% in February

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 461,100 shares, an increase of 41.1% from the February 13th total of 326,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 167,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCM. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment in the fourth quarter worth $3,328,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 171,467 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 55,841 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment in the fourth quarter worth $345,000. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment in the fourth quarter worth $251,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment in the fourth quarter worth $244,000. 13.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Remove Ads

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE SCM traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $14.34. The company had a trading volume of 170,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,547. Stellus Capital Investment has a twelve month low of $12.92 and a twelve month high of $15.56. 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 market capitalization of $394.50 million, a PE ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day moving average is $14.60 and its 200-day moving average is $14.08.

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

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

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

About Stellus Capital Investment

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.