Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 259,900 shares, a decline of 43.6% from the February 28th total of 461,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 172,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,328,000. Condor Capital Management increased its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 1.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Stellus Capital Investment by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 173,702 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 171,467 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 55,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 65,584 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

Stellus Capital Investment Trading Down 0.3 %

Stellus Capital Investment stock opened at $14.50 on Friday. Stellus Capital Investment has a 1 year low of $12.92 and a 1 year high of $15.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $398.90 million, a P/E ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid 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 payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday.

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.