Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) Upgraded at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FDUS. B. Riley lowered shares of Fidus Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $22.50 in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Fidus Investment from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th.

Fidus Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ FDUS opened at $21.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $749.35 million, a PE ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.95. Fidus Investment has a one year low of $16.70 and a one year high of $23.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.66.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The asset manager reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $39.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.42 million. Fidus Investment had a net margin of 51.88% and a return on equity of 11.52%. Research analysts predict that Fidus Investment will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Fidus Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 800.0%. This is a positive change from Fidus Investment’s previous — dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 18th. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Fidus Investment during the second quarter worth about $549,138,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Fidus Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $20,539,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Fidus Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $4,072,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Fidus Investment during the first quarter worth about $2,740,000. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its position in Fidus Investment by 106.5% during the second quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 190,228 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,843,000 after buying an additional 98,107 shares during the period. 28.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fidus Investment

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans.