Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Stock Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE:SCM) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $8.61 and traded as low as $7.04. Stellus Capital Investment shares last traded at $7.2250, with a volume of 83,826 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SCM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Stellus Capital Investment from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price objective on Stellus Capital Investment from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stellus Capital Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.25.

Stellus Capital Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.60.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The investment management company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 30.66% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The company had revenue of $30.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.38 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment Corporation will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.0833 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.0%. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 7.2% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 74,661 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 5,016 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 281,166 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after buying an additional 7,066 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 154,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after buying an additional 8,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment during the second quarter valued at about $117,000. Institutional investors own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

Stellus Capital Investment Company Profile

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to privately owned, middle-market companies. The company seeks to generate income and long-term capital appreciation primarily through investments in debt securities and, to a lesser extent, equity interests.

Its portfolio may include senior secured loans, unitranche debt, subordinated debt and other structured investments. Stellus typically works with companies that require capital for acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, refinancings and other corporate purposes.