Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) Short Interest Up 33.8% in November

Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 212,900 shares, an increase of 33.8% from the October 31st total of 159,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 236,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Fidus Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fidus Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDUS. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fidus Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Fidus Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fidus Investment during the first quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fidus Investment by 23.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Fidus Investment by 20.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,866 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 2,140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.14% of the company’s stock.

Fidus Investment Price Performance

NASDAQ FDUS opened at $21.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $722.05 million, a P/E ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 1.40. Fidus Investment has a 12 month low of $18.41 and a 12 month high of $21.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.87 and a 200-day moving average of $19.78.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $38.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 million. Fidus Investment had a net margin of 60.09% and a return on equity of 12.11%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fidus Investment will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Fidus Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from Fidus Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Fidus Investment Company Profile

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans.