Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Short Interest Up 41.1% in February

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 461,100 shares, a growth of 41.1% from the February 13th total of 326,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 167,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SCM opened at $14.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $391.47 million, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Stellus Capital Investment has a 12-month low of $12.92 and a 12-month high of $15.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.07.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $25.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.60 million. Stellus Capital Investment had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 45.39%. Analysts predict that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.1333 per share. This represents a yield of 10.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Institutional Trading of Stellus Capital Investment

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $3,328,000. Condor Capital Management grew its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 183,778 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,529,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 173,702 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 171,467 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 55,841 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 65,584 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 9,736 shares during the period. 13.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stellus Capital Investment Company Profile

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.