PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:PFLT) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:PFLT) experienced a substantial increase in short interest of 35.6%, totaling 1,280,000 shares by mid-August.
• The company recently declared a monthly dividend of $0.1025 per share, representing an annualized yield of 12.0% and a payout ratio of 146.43%.
• Analyst ratings for PennantPark are mixed, with a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $10.88.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:PFLT - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,280,000 shares, an increase of 35.6% from the July 31st total of 943,700 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 788,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 788,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 162,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 45,022 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 86,588 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,823 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 247.0% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 105,656 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PFLT. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $10.50 to $10.75 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.88.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Trading Down 0.4%

PFLT traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $10.17. 1,100,600 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,088,723. The company's 50 day moving average is $10.42 and its 200-day moving average is $10.40. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 0.98. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a twelve month low of $8.82 and a twelve month high of $11.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.1025 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital's dividend payout ratio is 146.43%.

About PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is a business development company. It seeks to make secondary direct, debt, equity, and loan investments. The fund seeks to invest through floating rate loans in private or thinly traded or small market-cap, public middle market companies. It primarily invests in the United States and to a limited extent non-U.S.