PennantPark Investment Co. Plans Monthly Dividend of $0.08 (NASDAQ:PNNT)

PennantPark Investment Co. (NASDAQ:PNNT) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, June 4th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the asset manager on Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th.

PennantPark Investment has raised its dividend payment by an average of 24.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. PennantPark Investment has a dividend payout ratio of 135.2% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect PennantPark Investment to earn $0.80 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 120.0%.

PennantPark Investment Stock Down 0.9%

PennantPark Investment stock opened at $6.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $435.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65 and a beta of 1.01. PennantPark Investment has a 52-week low of $5.72 and a 52-week high of $8.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $6.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Compass Point reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $5.75 price objective (down from $6.00) on shares of PennantPark Investment in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on PennantPark Investment from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded PennantPark Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PennantPark Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at PennantPark Investment

In other PennantPark Investment news, Director Jose A. Briones bought 3,640 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.88 per share, for a total transaction of $25,043.20. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 268,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,527.36. The trade was a 1.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

About PennantPark Investment

PennantPark Investment Corporation, a business development company is a private equity fund specializes in direct and mezzanine investments in middle market companies. It invests in the form of mezzanine debt, senior secured loans, and equity investments. The fund typically invests in buildings and real estate, hotels, gaming and leisure, technology, telecommunications, transportation, information technology services, electronics, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, education and childcare, financial services, printing and publishing, consumer products, business services, energy & Related Services and utilities, distribution, oil and gas, media, environmental services, aerospace and defense, building materials, capital equipment, chemicals, plastics, & rubber, food & beverage, wholesale, manufacturing and basic industries and retail.