HighTower Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM)

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 18,208 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Stellus Capital Investment at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Stellus Capital Investment by 70.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,949 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment during the third quarter worth about $226,000. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 64,339 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,328,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Stellus Capital Investment Price Performance

Shares of SCM stock opened at $13.80 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.12. The company has a market cap of $379.78 million, a P/E ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Stellus Capital Investment Co. has a twelve month low of $13.00 and a twelve month high of $15.56.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.04). Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 45.39% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The company had revenue of $25.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment Co. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.1333 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 10.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Stellus Capital Investment’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

About Stellus Capital Investment

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.