Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) Increases Dividend to $0.42 Per Share

Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share on Monday, March 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This is a 1,300.0% increase from Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a payout ratio of 101.8% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Bain Capital Specialty Finance to earn $1.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 89.8%.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Stock Performance

Shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 334,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,753. The firm has a market cap of $842.13 million, a PE ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a 52 week low of $12.43 and a 52 week high of $19.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $13.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.17.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $68.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.48 million. Bain Capital Specialty Finance had a net margin of 33.45% and a return on equity of 11.03%. Equities analysts forecast that Bain Capital Specialty Finance will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCSF has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Bain Capital Specialty Finance from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $14.00 price objective on Bain Capital Specialty Finance and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Company Profile

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE: BCSF) is a closed-end interval fund organized as a specialty finance company. Since commencing operations in March 2017, the company has focused on originating and acquiring debt and equity investments in middle-market companies. It is structured to offer investors access to private credit and special situations strategies that are typically unavailable through traditional public debt markets.

The firm’s core business activities include direct lending to U.S.