Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SCM. Weiss Ratings downgraded Stellus Capital Investment from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.00.

Stellus Capital Investment Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SCM opened at $11.92 on Friday. Stellus Capital Investment has a 52-week low of $11.19 and a 52-week high of $15.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $338.77 million, a P/E ratio of 8.22 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.66.

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

Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Stellus Capital Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 33.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 21,355 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Stellus Capital Investment by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 144,005 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,007,000 after acquiring an additional 56,885 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,283 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 12,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Stellus Capital Investment in the 1st quarter valued at $150,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

About Stellus Capital Investment

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.