Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SCM. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.00.

Stellus Capital Investment Price Performance

Stellus Capital Investment stock opened at $11.90 on Tuesday. Stellus Capital Investment has a 12-month low of $11.19 and a 12-month high of $15.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.20 million, a P/E ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 14th. The investment management company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 38.24% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company had revenue of $27.03 million for the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.1333 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.4%. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 33.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 84,762 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 21,355 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 27.7% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 15,440 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 3,352 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 115.9% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 39,305 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 21,097 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment during the first quarter worth approximately $150,000. Finally, Condor Capital Management grew its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 4.1% during the first quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 191,392 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after buying an additional 7,614 shares during the period. 13.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stellus Capital Investment Company Profile

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.