Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Announces Monthly Dividend of $0.13

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, April 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.1333 per share by the investment management company on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This is an increase from Stellus Capital Investment’s previous monthly dividend of $0.13.

Stellus Capital Investment has raised its dividend by an average of 13.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Stellus Capital Investment has a dividend payout ratio of 95.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Stellus Capital Investment to earn $1.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 94.7%.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SCM opened at $13.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.00. The stock has a market cap of $320.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.17. Stellus Capital Investment has a fifty-two week low of $12.19 and a fifty-two week high of $15.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The investment management company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 16.56% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The firm had revenue of $28.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 174,910 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 15,896 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,497 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 1,358.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,748 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 8,148 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 48.7% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 31,857 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 10,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 183.1% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,442 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,813 shares during the last quarter. 13.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SCM. B. Riley reissued a “sell” rating and set a $12.50 price objective (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Stellus Capital Investment Company Profile

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.