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

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 801,400 shares, a drop of 6.9% from the September 15th total of 860,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 389,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Barings BDC from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barings BDC

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in Barings BDC by 50.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Barings BDC by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Barings BDC by 3.0% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. 44.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barings BDC Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BBDC traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $9.75. The stock had a trading volume of 31,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,962. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Barings BDC has a 52 week low of $8.55 and a 52 week high of $10.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.87 and its 200 day moving average is $9.76. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.67.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.10. Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.32% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $74.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Barings BDC will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.55%.

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.