Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) Short Interest Update

Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 117,800 shares, an increase of 31.2% from the February 13th total of 89,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 40,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Portman Ridge Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTMN opened at $15.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 3.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.36. Portman Ridge Finance has a one year low of $15.16 and a one year high of $20.84. The firm has a market cap of $142.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.76 and a beta of 1.02.

Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $14.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.14 million. Portman Ridge Finance had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 14.68%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Portman Ridge Finance will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Portman Ridge Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.17%. Portman Ridge Finance’s payout ratio is -431.25%.

Institutional Trading of Portman Ridge Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 106,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 21,425 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 178,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 50,500 shares during the period. Bulldog Investors LLP lifted its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 155.0% during the 4th quarter. Bulldog Investors LLP now owns 216,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 131,630 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 29,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 6,031 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Portman Ridge Finance during the 4th quarter valued at $1,702,000. 30.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Portman Ridge Finance Company Profile

Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business.