PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT) Short Interest Up 38.3% in April

Key Points

• Short interest up 38.3% in April to 3,965,274 shares (about 4.0% of shares sold short) with a short-interest ratio of 3.6 days.
• CFO Richard T. Allorto Jr. purchased 15,000 shares at $8.15 (now owns 25,000) and director Jose A. Briones bought 5,895 shares, with corporate insiders owning about 1.0% of the stock.
• The company declared a $0.1025 monthly dividend (ex-dividend April 15) implying a 14.0% yield

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,965,274 shares, an increase of 38.3% from the March 31st total of 2,866,711 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,113,407 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

In related news, CFO Richard T. Allorto, Jr. purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.15 per share, with a total value of $122,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 25,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $203,750. This represents a 150.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jose A. Briones acquired 5,895 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,989.60. Following the completion of the purchase, 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital during the third quarter worth about $36,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 32.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.77% of the company's stock.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Stock Performance

NYSE PFLT traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $8.77. 607,703 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 974,654. The stock has a market capitalization of $870.46 million, a P/E ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a 1 year low of $7.68 and a 1 year high of $10.88. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $8.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.90.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.03). PennantPark Floating Rate Capital had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $12.72 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that PennantPark Floating Rate Capital will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a $0.1025 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 361.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PFLT shares. Maxim Group set a $10.50 price target on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PennantPark Floating Rate Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.25.

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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