Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.45 Per Share

Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) declared a — dividend on Friday, February 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share on Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 8.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s previous — dividend of $0.03.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.3% annually over the last three years. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a dividend payout ratio of 93.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities research analysts expect Bain Capital Specialty Finance to earn $1.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 89.8%.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE BCSF traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.08. The company had a trading volume of 347,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 208,450. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a 1-year low of $15.29 and a 1-year high of $19.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.83 and its 200-day moving average is $17.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $73.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.50 million. Bain Capital Specialty Finance had a net margin of 43.62% and a return on equity of 11.90%. On average, analysts expect that Bain Capital Specialty Finance will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bain Capital Specialty Finance from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Company Profile

Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc is business development company specializing in direct loans to middle-market companies. The fund seeks to invest in senior investments with a first or second lien on collateral, senior first lien, stretch senior, senior second lien, unitranche, mezzanine debt, junior securities, other junior investments, and secondary purchases of assets or portfolios that primarily consist of middle-market corporate debt.