Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:FDUS) Short Interest Up 24.7% in December

Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:FDUS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 161,888 shares, a growth of 24.7% from the December 15th total of 129,864 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 460,927 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 460,927 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Fidus Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Fidus Investment by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 903,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,304,000 after purchasing an additional 56,449 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Fidus Investment by 11.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 497,921 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,088,000 after buying an additional 51,218 shares in the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fidus Investment by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 485,780 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,376,000 after buying an additional 84,320 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fidus Investment by 22.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,913,000 after buying an additional 80,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Fidus Investment by 25.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 375,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,612,000 after buying an additional 77,346 shares in the last quarter. 28.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Fidus Investment from $21.50 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidus Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fidus Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.75.

Fidus Investment Price Performance

NASDAQ FDUS traded down $0.31 on Monday, hitting $19.91. The company had a trading volume of 187,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,658. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.42. The company has a market capitalization of $725.32 million, a PE ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 0.73. Fidus Investment has a 12-month low of $16.70 and a 12-month high of $23.55.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The asset manager reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Fidus Investment had a net margin of 54.03% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The business had revenue of $37.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.29 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fidus Investment will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Fidus Investment Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 19th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.6%. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.88%.

About Fidus Investment

Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ: FDUS) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides specialized financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. Operated by Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC, a registered investment adviser, the company is regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

The firm focuses on structuring senior secured and unitranche loans, mezzanine debt and equity investments for established businesses across a range of industries.