CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) Short Interest Up 28.5% in April

CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 565,400 shares, a growth of 28.5% from the March 31st total of 439,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 374,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

CION Investment Stock Up 1.6 %

CION stock opened at $9.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $527.09 million, a PE ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $10.51 and a 200-day moving average of $11.24. CION Investment has a 12-month low of $8.51 and a 12-month high of $12.71.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $87.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.11 million. CION Investment had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 11.49%. On average, research analysts expect that CION Investment will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

CION Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. CION Investment’s payout ratio is 228.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in CION Investment during the fourth quarter valued at $11,882,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 6,958.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 722,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,233,000 after acquiring an additional 711,970 shares during the period. Bulldog Investors LLP increased its holdings in CION Investment by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Bulldog Investors LLP now owns 1,682,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,190,000 after acquiring an additional 646,596 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in CION Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,899,000. Finally, CF Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CION Investment during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,809,000. 32.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of CION Investment from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies.