PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (NYSE:PFLT) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.4167.

PFLT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $10.50 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Maxim Group set a $10.50 price objective on PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PFLT opened at $8.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $795.25 million, a P/E ratio of 23.57 and a beta of 0.75. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a 1-year low of $7.68 and a 1-year high of $11.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.03). PennantPark Floating Rate Capital had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $12.72 million during the quarter.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.1025 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 361.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

In related news, Director Jose A. Briones acquired 5,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,989.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 342,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,814.24. This trade represents a 1.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard T. Allorto, Jr. acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.15 per share, for a total transaction of $122,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,750. This trade represents a 150.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFLT. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 5.8% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,131,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,654,000 after acquiring an additional 226,805 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 81.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 147,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 65,977 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 7.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,533,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,520,000 after purchasing an additional 174,630 shares during the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 62.9% in the third quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 170,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 65,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 281.7% during the third quarter. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. now owns 74,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 54,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.77% of the company’s stock.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Company Profile

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is a business development company. It seeks to make secondary direct, debt, equity, and loan investments. The fund seeks to invest through floating rate loans in private or thinly traded or small market-cap, public middle market companies. It primarily invests in the United States and to a limited extent non-U.S. companies. The fund typically invests between $2 million and $20 million. The fund also invests in equity securities, such as preferred stock, common stock, warrants or options received in connection with debt investments or through direct investments.