Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) Short Interest Update

Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 236,500 shares, an increase of 62.3% from the April 30th total of 145,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 54,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Portman Ridge Finance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Portman Ridge Finance by 69.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 6,730 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 27,714 shares of the company's stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Portman Ridge Finance in the first quarter worth approximately $183,000. Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 70,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 8,299 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance during the 1st quarter worth about $152,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Portman Ridge Finance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Portman Ridge Finance Price Performance

Shares of PTMN traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $11.93. The company had a trading volume of 58,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,150. Portman Ridge Finance has a twelve month low of $11.60 and a twelve month high of $20.08. The company's 50-day moving average is $12.42 and its 200-day moving average is $15.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $109.79 million, a P/E ratio of 32.24 and a beta of 0.64.

Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.13). Portman Ridge Finance had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 5.47%. The business had revenue of $12.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.04 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Portman Ridge Finance will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Portman Ridge Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Portman Ridge Finance's dividend payout ratio is presently -166.37%.

Portman Ridge Finance Company Profile

Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business.