Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE:SCM) Short Interest Update

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE:SCM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 797,134 shares, a growth of 18.5% from the February 26th total of 672,959 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 341,749 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Stellus Capital Investment Price Performance

Shares of SCM opened at $9.04 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Stellus Capital Investment has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $15.39. The company has a market cap of $261.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 0.68.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The investment management company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.02). Stellus Capital Investment had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 26.48%.The business had revenue of $23.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.33 million. As a group, analysts predict that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.1133 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.0%. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stellus Capital Investment news, CEO Robert T. Ladd purchased 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.70 per share, with a total value of $304,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 667,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,811,034.50. This trade represents a 5.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce R. Bilger acquired 45,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.74 per share, for a total transaction of $397,582.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 228,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,200.70. This represents a 24.92% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 87,890 shares of company stock valued at $766,551 over the last three months. 3.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 138.9% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 507,526 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,075,000 after buying an additional 295,068 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 695.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 309,045 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 270,199 shares during the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 253,534 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,215,000 after purchasing an additional 46,641 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 225,264 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 7,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Condor Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 214,438 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 11,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Stellus Capital Investment from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.00.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE: SCM) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company that provides debt and equity financing to middle market companies in the United States. As an investment vehicle specializing in private credit, Stellus focuses on originating and structuring senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, mezzanine debt, and equity co-investments tailored to the unique needs of growing businesses. Its flexible capital solutions are designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, and balance sheet refinancings.

Operating under an evergreen structure, Stellus Capital Investment partners with a diverse group of portfolio companies across industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, business services, and specialty finance.