Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) Share Price Breaks Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Main Street Capital shares moved above their 200-day moving average, reaching $55.95 and last trading near $55.85. The technical move does not by itself signal that investors should sell.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans neutral: the stock has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $61, with recent upgrades from Wells Fargo and Weiss Ratings offset by UBS lowering its target to $57.
• Main Street Capital reported slightly better-than-expected quarterly earnings and declared a $0.265 monthly dividend, equal to a 5.7% annualized yield; an insider also purchased additional shares.

Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE:MAIN - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $55.59 and traded as high as $55.95. Main Street Capital shares last traded at $55.8480, with a volume of 496,729 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MAIN shares. Zacks Research raised Main Street Capital from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Main Street Capital in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Main Street Capital from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Main Street Capital from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Main Street Capital from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Main Street Capital has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Main Street Capital Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.59. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.05 and a quick ratio of 0.05.

Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $327.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. Main Street Capital had a net margin of 78.49% and a return on equity of 11.80%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Main Street Capital Corporation will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Main Street Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 8th will be given a $0.2650 dividend. This represents a $3.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 8th. Main Street Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ryan Mchugh bought 2,550 shares of Main Street Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.05 per share, for a total transaction of $150,577.50. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer directly owned 22,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,337,305.35. The trade was a 12.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Main Street Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MAIN. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Main Street Capital in the second quarter worth $43,323,000. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. boosted its position in shares of Main Street Capital by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 484,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,664,000 after purchasing an additional 6,149 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Main Street Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $20,940,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Main Street Capital by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 370,509 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,622,000 after acquiring an additional 14,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Main Street Capital by 9.6% during the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 159,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,777,000 after purchasing an additional 13,992 shares during the last quarter. 20.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Main Street Capital Company Profile

Main Street Capital Corporation is a business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing to privately held businesses. The company primarily invests in lower middle-market companies and also makes private loan investments in larger middle-market businesses.

Its investment activities include first-lien, second-lien and subordinated debt, as well as equity investments and other securities. Main Street seeks to provide flexible, long-term capital to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives and other corporate financing needs.

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