Short Interest in Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Drops By 47.0%

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 67,200 shares, a drop of 47.0% from the February 29th total of 126,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 112,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Stellus Capital Investment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 261.5% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,948 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC bought a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the 1st quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 1,358.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,748 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 8,148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.22% of the company's stock.

Stellus Capital Investment Trading Down 0.6 %

Stellus Capital Investment stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $13.07. 147,485 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 112,990. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Stellus Capital Investment has a 12 month low of $12.19 and a 12 month high of $15.40. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $13.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $315.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 1.17.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The investment management company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). Stellus Capital Investment had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 16.56%. The firm had revenue of $28.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $0.1333 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.24%. Stellus Capital Investment's dividend payout ratio is currently 205.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SCM. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. B. Riley reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $12.50 price objective (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

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.