Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 107,300 shares, a decrease of 26.2% from the April 30th total of 145,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 69,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

In other Stellus Capital Investment news, CEO Robert T. Ladd purchased 8,834 shares of Stellus Capital Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.86 per share, for a total transaction of $113,605.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 626,581 shares in the company, valued at $8,057,831.66. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cliffwater LLC grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Cliffwater LLC now owns 219,388 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 5,036 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 69.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 97,995 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 40,002 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 27,279 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 8,784 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Strategic Partners acquired a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment in the 1st quarter valued at about $275,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Stellus Capital Investment in the 1st quarter valued at about $163,000. 16.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of NYSE:SCM traded down $0.01 on Monday, reaching $12.90. 625 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 68,013. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Stellus Capital Investment has a 1-year low of $12.10 and a 1-year high of $14.74. The firm has a market cap of $252.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.54 and a 200-day moving average of $13.51.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 11th. The investment management company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 51.94% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 30th will be paid a $0.0933 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 29th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.68%. Stellus Capital Investment’s payout ratio is 64.00%.

SCM has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Hovde Group cut shares of Stellus Capital Investment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 23rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.17.

About Stellus Capital Investment (Get Rating)

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.

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