PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• PennantPark Floating Rate Capital currently has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from eight brokerages, with an average price target of $9.80 per share.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of $0.27, slightly below expectations, while shares recently traded around $8.17 and were down 1.5% in the latest session.
• PFLT announced a monthly dividend of $0.1025 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 15.1%, though the payout ratio is very high at 198.39%.

Shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.80.

Several brokerages recently commented on PFLT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $10.50 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research cut PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of PFLT stock opened at $8.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $810.13 million, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.78. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a one year low of $7.68 and a one year high of $10.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $44.81 million during the quarter. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 23.08%. Analysts predict that PennantPark Floating Rate Capital will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.1025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.1%. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 198.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jose A. Briones acquired 5,770 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.67 per share, with a total value of $50,025.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 348,083 shares in the company, valued at $3,017,879.61. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard T. Allorto, Jr. acquired 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.15 per share, with a total value of $122,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 25,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,750. This trade represents a 150.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital during the third quarter valued at $36,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 177.9% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital during the second quarter valued at $41,000. 19.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Company Profile

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. companies. The fund typically invests between $2 million and $20 million. The fund also invests in equity securities, such as preferred stock, common stock, warrants or options received in connection with debt investments or through direct investments.

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