Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Short Interest Up 37.4% in November

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 325,600 shares, an increase of 37.4% from the November 15th total of 237,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 174,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Carlyle Secured Lending in the first quarter valued at $379,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Carlyle Secured Lending in the second quarter valued at $312,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 5.1% during the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 11,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Carlyle Secured Lending by 3.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 126,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 4,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 118,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 36,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Carlyle Secured Lending Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGBD traded up $0.18 on Friday, hitting $17.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 239,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,753. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.11 and a 200-day moving average of $17.31. The company has a market capitalization of $908.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 1.59. Carlyle Secured Lending has a 12-month low of $14.76 and a 12-month high of $18.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $55.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.92 million. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 40.69%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.09%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.39%.

Carlyle Secured Lending Company Profile

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc is business development company specializing in first lien debt, senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loan unsecured debt, mezzanine debt and investments in equities. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. It targets healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, high tech industries, business services, software, beverage food and tobacco, hotel gamming and leisure, banking finance insurance and in real estate sector.