Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) Short Interest Down 19.2% in March

Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 218,700 shares, a drop of 19.2% from the March 15th total of 270,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 327,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Clare Stack Richer bought 1,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.43 per share, for a total transaction of $25,137.90. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $342,319.05. The trade was a 7.93 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 136.2% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 24,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 13,892 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 14.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 287,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,779,000 after acquiring an additional 36,585 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 47.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 224,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 71,806 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC increased its position in Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 105,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 2,159 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 15,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Price Performance

Shares of BCSF stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 199,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,250. The company has a market cap of $966.64 million, a P/E ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.01. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a 1-year low of $13.20 and a 1-year high of $19.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $73.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, research analysts predict that Bain Capital Specialty Finance will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on BCSF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Bain Capital Specialty Finance from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

About Bain Capital Specialty Finance

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.