CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) Short Interest Up 50.3% in March

CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 349,400 shares, a growth of 50.3% from the February 28th total of 232,400 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 317,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of CION Investment in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CION Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CION. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CION Investment in the fourth quarter worth $11,882,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of CION Investment by 6,958.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 722,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,233,000 after purchasing an additional 711,970 shares during the period. Bulldog Investors LLP raised its stake in shares of CION Investment by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Bulldog Investors LLP now owns 1,682,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,190,000 after buying an additional 646,596 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CION Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $6,899,000. Finally, CF Capital LLC bought a new position in CION Investment during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,809,000. 32.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CION Investment Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE CION traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.48. 108,930 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 236,115. The company has a market cap of $555.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.66. CION Investment has a 1-year low of $10.14 and a 1-year high of $12.71.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $87.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.11 million. CION Investment had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 31.21%. Equities research analysts forecast that CION Investment will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CION Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.75%. CION Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 228.57%.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies.