Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Barings BDC by 273.4% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 297,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,899,000 after buying an additional 218,146 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Barings BDC by 59.0% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 296,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 110,037 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Barings BDC in the fourth quarter worth approximately $815,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Barings BDC during the second quarter valued at approximately $731,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 17.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,138,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,808,000 after acquiring an additional 321,638 shares in the last quarter. 44.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barings BDC Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBDC opened at $9.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.69. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.67. Barings BDC, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.55 and a 12 month high of $10.27.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $74.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.75 million. Barings BDC had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 38.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBDC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Barings BDC from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Barings BDC from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd.

Barings BDC Company Profile

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.