Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) Short Interest Up 5.2% in December

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 620,300 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the November 30th total of 589,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 420,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Insider Activity at Barings BDC

In related news, Director Stephen R. Byers acquired 8,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $82,559.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,001 shares in the company, valued at $486,509.73. This trade represents a 20.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total value of $285,412.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 14,048 shares of company stock valued at $136,772 over the last 90 days. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barings BDC

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Barings BDC in the third quarter valued at $10,549,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Barings BDC by 148.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 740,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,257,000 after acquiring an additional 442,621 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 6.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,267,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,134,000 after purchasing an additional 129,410 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Barings BDC by 38.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 322,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 90,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Barings BDC by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 252,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after buying an additional 70,722 shares in the last quarter. 44.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barings BDC Stock Performance

Shares of BBDC stock opened at $9.57 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.68. Barings BDC has a 52-week low of $8.55 and a 52-week high of $10.38.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $70.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.48 million. Barings BDC had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 39.59%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barings BDC will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.87%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.30%.

About Barings BDC

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.