Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Gladstone Investment from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gladstone Investment from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. B. Riley Financial raised Gladstone Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $16.50 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Gladstone Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.75.

Gladstone Investment Stock Up 0.7%

GAIN opened at $16.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.22. Gladstone Investment has a twelve month low of $13.11 and a twelve month high of $17.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $658.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The investment management company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). Gladstone Investment had a net margin of 158.95% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The company had revenue of $25.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.80 million. As a group, analysts expect that Gladstone Investment will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Gladstone Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Gladstone Investment in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gladstone Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Gladstone Investment by 960.8% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 4,804 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Gladstone Investment during the second quarter worth $105,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Gladstone Investment by 272.1% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,946 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 6,542 shares during the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gladstone Investment

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ: GAIN) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that focuses on providing debt and equity financing to U.S. middle-market companies. As an externally managed closed-end fund, Gladstone Investment seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation for its shareholders by originating senior secured debt, subordinated debt and equity investments. The firm typically targets established businesses with revenues between $10 million and $150 million, across a range of industry sectors including business services, health care, industrials and specialty manufacturing.

The company’s investment strategy centers on deploying capital through first-lien and second-lien term loans, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments, often including warrants or other equity kickers.