Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Announces Dividend of $0.13

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM - Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Saturday, May 24th, investing.com reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.1333 per share by the investment management company on Friday, June 13th. This represents a yield of 11.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th.

Stellus Capital Investment has raised its dividend by an average of 16.6% per year over the last three years. Stellus Capital Investment has a payout ratio of 127.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Stellus Capital Investment to earn $1.45 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 110.3%.

Stellus Capital Investment Price Performance

SCM traded up $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 86,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,405. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $13.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.84. Stellus Capital Investment has a 12 month low of $11.19 and a 12 month high of $15.56.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The investment management company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The business had revenue of $24.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.76 million. Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 45.39% and a return on equity of 13.49%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Stellus Capital Investment

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Stellus Capital Investment stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,882 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,808 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.10% of Stellus Capital Investment worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 13.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SCM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Stellus Capital Investment from $13.50 to $13.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Stellus Capital Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.