Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Shares in BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,817 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TCPC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in BlackRock TCP Capital by 177.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,488 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock TCP Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock TCP Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in BlackRock TCP Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000.

BlackRock TCP Capital Price Performance

Shares of TCPC stock opened at $7.77 on Friday. BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $6.27 and a fifty-two week high of $11.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $660.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.54 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 39.37 and a current ratio of 39.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.21.

BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The investment management company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $55.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.95 million. BlackRock TCP Capital had a positive return on equity of 14.16% and a negative net margin of 15.22%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock TCP Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. BlackRock TCP Capital’s payout ratio is presently -172.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TCPC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BlackRock TCP Capital from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered BlackRock TCP Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from $7.50 to $6.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Philip M. Tseng acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.74 per share, for a total transaction of $77,400.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 38,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,663.38. This trade represents a 34.98% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock TCP Capital Company Profile

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. is a business development company specializing in direct equity and debt investments in middle-market, small businesses, debt securities, senior secured loans, junior loans, originated loans, mezzanine, senior debt instruments, bonds, and secondary-market investments. It typically invests in communication services, public relations services, television, wireless telecommunication services, apparel, textile mills, restaurants, retailing, energy, oil and gas extraction, Patent owners and Lessors, Federal and Federally- Sponsored Credit agencies, insurance, hospital and healthcare centers, Biotechnology, engineering services, heavy electrical equipment, tax accounting, scientific and related consulting services, charter freight air transportation, Information technology consulting, application hosting services, software diagram and design, computer aided design, communication equipment, electronics manufacturing equipment, computer components, chemicals.