Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 747,600 shares, a growth of 31.9% from the February 28th total of 567,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 521,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barings BDC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,542,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Barings BDC in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,549,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Barings BDC in the 4th quarter valued at $8,891,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 705,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,753,000 after purchasing an additional 324,945 shares during the period. Finally, Icon Advisers Inc. Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Barings BDC during the fourth quarter worth $2,577,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

Barings BDC Price Performance

BBDC traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.45. 278,772 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,669. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $996.12 million, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.66. Barings BDC has a 1-year low of $8.95 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $70.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.35 million. Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.94%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Barings BDC will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.