Van ECK Associates Corp Has $22.52 Million Stock Position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. $PFLT

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,533,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 174,630 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 2.55% of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital worth $22,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFLT. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,131,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,654,000 after purchasing an additional 226,805 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 85.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,196,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after buying an additional 550,011 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 2.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,076,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,118,000 after buying an additional 26,502 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 4.4% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 603,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,361,000 after buying an additional 25,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 6.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 351,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 22,150 shares during the period. 19.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PFLT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $10.50 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Maxim Group set a $10.50 target price on PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.42.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Trading Up 1.4%

PFLT traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.16. The stock had a trading volume of 203,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,414. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.99. The company has a market capitalization of $809.14 million, a P/E ratio of 23.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. has a one year low of $7.92 and a one year high of $11.46.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $12.72 million for the quarter. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 9.72%.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.1025 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital’s payout ratio is 361.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Richard T. Allorto, Jr. acquired 15,000 shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.15 per share, for a total transaction of $122,250.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,750. This trade represents a 150.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jose A. Briones bought 5,895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,989.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 342,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,902,814.24. This represents a 1.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Company Profile

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is a business development company. It seeks to make secondary direct, debt, equity, and loan investments. The fund seeks to invest through floating rate loans in private or thinly traded or small market-cap, public middle market companies. It primarily invests in the United States and to a limited extent non-U.S. companies. The fund typically invests between $2 million and $20 million. The fund also invests in equity securities, such as preferred stock, common stock, warrants or options received in connection with debt investments or through direct investments.