Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.30 EPS

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The investment management company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.30, FiscalAI reports. Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The company had revenue of $30.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.38 million.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of SCM traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $8.44. The stock had a trading volume of 152,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,175. Stellus Capital Investment has a 1-year low of $6.83 and a 1-year high of $15.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.34 million, a P/E ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.0833 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.8%. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J Tim Arnoult purchased 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.05 per share, for a total transaction of $81,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 50,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,364.45. The trade was a 21.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 10,700 shares of company stock worth $96,523. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCM. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 281,166 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 7,066 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 60,048 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 107,787 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 183,055 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after buying an additional 38,733 shares during the last quarter. 13.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SCM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Stellus Capital Investment from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their target price on Stellus Capital Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stellus Capital Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.50.

Stellus Capital Investment Company Profile

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE: SCM) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company that provides debt and equity financing to middle market companies in the United States. As an investment vehicle specializing in private credit, Stellus focuses on originating and structuring senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, mezzanine debt, and equity co-investments tailored to the unique needs of growing businesses. Its flexible capital solutions are designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, and balance sheet refinancings.

Operating under an evergreen structure, Stellus Capital Investment partners with a diverse group of portfolio companies across industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, business services, and specialty finance.