Short Interest in BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Increases By 57.4%

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, an increase of 57.4% from the February 28th total of 1,010,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 647,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

BlackRock TCP Capital Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of BlackRock TCP Capital stock opened at $7.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $679.77 million, a P/E ratio of -15.98 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 39.37 and a quick ratio of 39.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.66. BlackRock TCP Capital has a 1 year low of $7.67 and a 1 year high of $11.52.

BlackRock TCP Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.52%. BlackRock TCP Capital’s payout ratio is -133.33%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock TCP Capital

In related news, CEO Philip M. Tseng purchased 10,000 shares of BlackRock TCP Capital stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.74 per share, for a total transaction of $77,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,663.38. This trade represents a 34.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Patrick Wolfe acquired 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.12 per share, with a total value of $49,532.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 8,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,984.36. This trade represents a 320.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 18,500 shares of company stock worth $146,444 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,202,733 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $19,186,000 after acquiring an additional 95,603 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock TCP Capital by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,432,456 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $12,477,000 after purchasing an additional 209,898 shares in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,268,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 623.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 558,815 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,867,000 after purchasing an additional 481,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 3.7% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 485,458 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,024,000 after buying an additional 17,218 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on TCPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on BlackRock TCP Capital from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.67.

BlackRock TCP Capital Company Profile

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. is a business development company specializing in direct equity and debt investments in middle-market, small businesses, debt securities, senior secured loans, junior loans, originated loans, mezzanine, senior debt instruments, bonds, and secondary-market investments. It typically invests in communication services, public relations services, television, wireless telecommunication services, apparel, textile mills, restaurants, retailing, energy, oil and gas extraction, Patent owners and Lessors, Federal and Federally- Sponsored Credit agencies, insurance, hospital and healthcare centers, Biotechnology, engineering services, heavy electrical equipment, tax accounting, scientific and related consulting services, charter freight air transportation, Information technology consulting, application hosting services, software diagram and design, computer aided design, communication equipment, electronics manufacturing equipment, computer components, chemicals.