PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT) Short Interest Down 15.8% in February

Key Points

• Short interest down 15.8% — Short interest fell to 2,108,707 shares as of Feb. 27 (about 2.1% of float), with a short-interest ratio of 1.4 days based on average daily volume.
• Insider buying — Director Jose A. Briones bought 5,895 shares and CFO Richard T. Allorto Jr. purchased 15,000 shares, materially increasing their stakes in the company.
• Large monthly dividend but high payout ratio — The firm declared a $0.1025 monthly dividend (about a 15.2% yield), while the payout ratio is an elevated 361.76%, indicating potential sustainability concerns.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 2,108,707 shares, a decline of 15.8% from the February 12th total of 2,503,231 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,478,676 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,478,676 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFLT has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Maxim Group set a $10.50 target price on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $10.50 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PennantPark Floating Rate Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.42.

Insider Transactions at PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

In other news, Director Jose A. Briones acquired 5,895 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.48 per share, with a total value of $49,989.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 342,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,814.24. This represents a 1.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard T. Allorto, Jr. bought 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.15 per share, with a total value of $122,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at $203,750. The trade was a 150.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,643,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,257,000 after buying an additional 512,528 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,533,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,520,000 after acquiring an additional 174,630 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,057,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,290,000 after acquiring an additional 617,657 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,367,442 shares of the company's stock worth $12,676,000 after acquiring an additional 71,372 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,320,156 shares of the company's stock worth $12,238,000 after acquiring an additional 404,117 shares during the period. 19.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFLT traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $8.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 394,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,361. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a 12 month low of $7.92 and a 12 month high of $11.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $803.19 million, a PE ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.97.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $12.72 million during the quarter. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 13.03%.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.1025 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital's payout ratio is presently 361.76%.

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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