Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.85 and last traded at $10.60, with a volume of 57101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.78.

Barings BDC Trading Down 1.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.85.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 38.54%. The business had revenue of $70.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.35 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen R. Byers acquired 8,485 shares of Barings BDC stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $82,559.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,001 shares in the company, valued at $486,509.73. The trade was a 20.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total value of $285,412.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 14,048 shares of company stock worth $136,772 over the last 90 days. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barings BDC

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barings BDC in the fourth quarter worth $135,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Barings BDC by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 253.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 26,794 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 47,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 12,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barings BDC during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. 44.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Barings BDC

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.