Short Interest in Kayne Anderson BDC, Inc. (NYSE:KBDC) Expands By 89.1%

Key Points

• Short interest nearly doubled in Kayne Anderson BDC, rising 89.1% to 613,478 shares as of August 31, equivalent to 1.6 days of average trading volume and about 1.0% of shares outstanding.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans toward caution: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $14.50 price target, while several firms recently lowered their targets.
• KBDC opened at $12.99, near its 12-month low, and recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, representing a 12.3% annualized yield. Its latest quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share exceeded estimates by $0.02.

Kayne Anderson BDC, Inc. (NYSE:KBDC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 613,478 shares, an increase of 89.1% from the August 15th total of 324,408 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 394,510 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kayne Anderson BDC

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KBDC. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kayne Anderson BDC in the 2nd quarter valued at $147,000. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kayne Anderson BDC during the 1st quarter worth $155,000. Platt Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kayne Anderson BDC during the 4th quarter worth about $175,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Kayne Anderson BDC by 126.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,705 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 12,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kayne Anderson BDC in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Kayne Anderson BDC from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Kayne Anderson BDC from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $14.00 price target (down from $15.00) on shares of Kayne Anderson BDC in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Kayne Anderson BDC from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Kayne Anderson BDC Stock Performance

NYSE:KBDC opened at $12.99 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $13.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $858.12 million, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.32. Kayne Anderson BDC has a twelve month low of $12.88 and a twelve month high of $15.87.

Kayne Anderson BDC (NYSE:KBDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $19.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.86 million. Kayne Anderson BDC had a net margin of 31.54% and a return on equity of 10.63%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kayne Anderson BDC will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kayne Anderson BDC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.3%. Kayne Anderson BDC's dividend payout ratio is 146.79%.

Kayne Anderson BDC Company Profile

Kayne Anderson BDC, Inc NYSE: KBDC is a business development company focused on providing financing to privately held middle-market companies. The company seeks to support businesses that may have limited access to traditional bank lending or public capital markets.

Its investment activities primarily include originating and investing in debt securities, such as senior secured loans, as well as other debt and equity investments. Through these investments, Kayne Anderson BDC aims to provide companies with capital for acquisitions, growth initiatives, refinancing, recapitalizations and other corporate purposes.

Kayne Anderson BDC is externally managed by an affiliate of Kayne Anderson, an investment management firm with experience across alternative asset classes.

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