Blue Owl Capital Co. (NYSE:OBDC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Blue Owl Capital Co. (NYSE:OBDC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,670,000 shares, an increase of 51.6% from the August 15th total of 3,080,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Owl Capital

In related news, Director Edward H. Dalelio bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.02 per share, for a total transaction of $37,550.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 9,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,420.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Owl Capital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Owl Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,207,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blue Owl Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $14,919,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Blue Owl Capital in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,311,000. Epiq Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blue Owl Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $4,123,000. Finally, UBS Group AG acquired a new position in shares of Blue Owl Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $8,978,000. 42.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Owl Capital Price Performance

Shares of OBDC stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $14.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 371,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,004,888. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.02 and a 200-day moving average of $15.52. Blue Owl Capital has a twelve month low of $12.99 and a twelve month high of $16.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 0.87.

Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OBDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Blue Owl Capital had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 43.61%. The firm had revenue of $396.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.84 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blue Owl Capital will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Blue Owl Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This is an increase from Blue Owl Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Blue Owl Capital’s payout ratio is presently 74.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OBDC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Blue Owl Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Blue Owl Capital from $15.50 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Blue Owl Capital from $16.00 to $15.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Blue Owl Capital in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Blue Owl Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Owl Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.94.

About Blue Owl Capital

Blue Owl Capital Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in direct and fund of fund investments. The fund makes investments in senior secured, direct lending or unsecured loans, subordinated loans or mezzanine loans and also considers equity-related securities including warrants and preferred stocks also pursues preferred equity investments, first lien, unitranche, and second lien term loans and common equity investments.