Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:GAIN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 41.3% to 1,339,262 shares as of March 31 (about 3.4% of the stock) with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.0, signaling a notable reduction in bearish positioning.
• Gladstone pays a monthly dividend of $0.08 (paid March 31), which equates to a 6.5% yield and a payout ratio of 30.87%, attractive for income-focused investors.
• Analyst sentiment is largely cautious with an average rating of "Hold" (one Buy, four Holds), and the company recently missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.21 vs. $0.24 consensus.

Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:GAIN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,339,262 shares, a decrease of 41.3% from the March 15th total of 2,282,186 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 444,497 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company's stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gladstone Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gladstone Investment by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 40,857 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gladstone Investment by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,460 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Gladstone Investment by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 14,777 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gladstone Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Gladstone Investment by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,249 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the period. 11.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Gladstone Investment from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Gladstone Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gladstone Investment presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Gladstone Investment Stock Performance

Shares of GAIN traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $14.83. The company had a trading volume of 48,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,183. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $14.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $590.65 million, a P/E ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.78. Gladstone Investment has a 1 year low of $13.11 and a 1 year high of $15.34.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The investment management company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). Gladstone Investment had a return on equity of 6.77% and a net margin of 118.55%.The business had revenue of $25.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.83 million. Equities analysts predict that Gladstone Investment will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gladstone Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Gladstone Investment's payout ratio is presently 30.87%.

Gladstone Investment Company Profile

Gladstone Investment NASDAQ: GAIN is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that focuses on providing debt and equity financing to U.S. middle-market companies. As an externally managed closed-end fund, Gladstone Investment seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation for its shareholders by originating senior secured debt, subordinated debt and equity investments. The firm typically targets established businesses with revenues between $10 million and $150 million, across a range of industry sectors including business services, health care, industrials and specialty manufacturing.

The company's investment strategy centers on deploying capital through first-lien and second-lien term loans, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments, often including warrants or other equity kickers.

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