CION Investment (NYSE:CION) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of CION Investment (NYSE:CION) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

CION has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CION Investment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of CION Investment in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.50.

CION Investment Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CION Investment stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $9.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 66,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,074. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.86. CION Investment has a one year low of $8.51 and a one year high of $12.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $491.21 million, a P/E ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.07.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $78.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.41 million. CION Investment had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 10.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CION Investment will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CION Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.7%. CION Investment’s payout ratio is presently 282.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CION Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in CION Investment in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in CION Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of CION Investment in the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CION Investment by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in CION Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at about $95,000. 32.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a closed‐end, non‐diversified management investment company organized as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Externally managed by CION Investment Management, LLC, the firm specializes in providing flexible capital solutions to U.S. and Canadian middle‐market companies. By combining debt and equity financing, CION seeks to support growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and other strategic initiatives for its portfolio companies.

The company’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, subordinated debt and private equity interests.