Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $10.38 and last traded at $10.35, with a volume of 209371 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.23.

Barings BDC Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.79 and a 200-day moving average of $9.84.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a net margin of 39.59% and a return on equity of 11.24%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.89%. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is 96.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen R. Byers bought 8,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $82,559.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 50,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $486,509.73. The trade was a 20.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total value of $285,412.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 14,048 shares of company stock valued at $136,772. 0.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBDC. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,084,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,516,000 after acquiring an additional 83,408 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Barings BDC by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,347,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,470,000 after acquiring an additional 79,994 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Barings BDC during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,542,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Barings BDC during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,549,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Barings BDC in the 4th quarter worth $8,891,000. 44.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.