CION Investment Corporation (NYSE:CION) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• CION Investment's short interest fell 22.1% to 634,345 shares as of March 31, leaving a short-interest ratio of 0.8 days and about 1.3% of shares sold short.
• Multiple analyst downgrades have left the stock with an average rating of Strong Sell and a consensus target price of $7.00, with Wells Fargo lowering its price target to $7 and assigning an "underweight" rating.
• The company announced a monthly $0.10 dividend (annualized yield ~16.4%, ex-dividend June 12), but the payout ratio is negative (-307.69%) and the latest quarter missed EPS expectations ($0.35 vs. $0.39).

CION Investment Corporation (NYSE:CION - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 634,345 shares, a decline of 22.1% from the March 15th total of 814,224 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 842,678 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 5.0% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 23,324 shares of the company's stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 7.2% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,219 shares of the company's stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 1,363 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 2.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,424 shares of the company's stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 8.1% during the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,269 shares of the company's stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 21,627 shares of the company's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 1,512 shares during the last quarter. 32.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of CION Investment from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of CION Investment from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CION Investment from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of CION Investment from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, CION Investment currently has an average rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus target price of $7.00.

CION Investment Price Performance

Shares of CION opened at $7.32 on Wednesday. CION Investment has a one year low of $6.50 and a one year high of $10.93. The company has a market cap of $369.66 million, a P/E ratio of -18.77 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.92.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.04). CION Investment had a negative net margin of 8.57% and a positive return on equity of 12.42%. The firm had revenue of $53.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.77 million. On average, 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 disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 16.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. CION Investment's payout ratio is currently -307.69%.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a closed‐end, non‐diversified management investment company organized as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Externally managed by CION Investment Management, LLC, the firm specializes in providing flexible capital solutions to U.S. and Canadian middle‐market companies. By combining debt and equity financing, CION seeks to support growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and other strategic initiatives for its portfolio companies.

The company’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, subordinated debt and private equity interests.

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