Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Sunday.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Stellus Capital Investment from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $13.00.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of NYSE SCM opened at $12.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $343.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Stellus Capital Investment has a 12 month low of $11.19 and a 12 month high of $15.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.61.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 14th. The investment management company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $27.03 million for the quarter. Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 29.77% and a return on equity of 10.75%. As a group, analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.1333 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 138.9% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 507,526 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,075,000 after acquiring an additional 295,068 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Stellus Capital Investment by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 248,953 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,485,000 after purchasing an additional 7,103 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 206,893 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,702,000 after purchasing an additional 62,888 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 205,166 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 8,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Condor Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 202,846 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 5,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.