Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Price Target Raised to $10.50

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $10.00 to $10.50 in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Barings BDC from $8.50 to $8.75 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th.

Barings BDC Stock Performance

NYSE:BBDC opened at $9.95 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Barings BDC has a 1-year low of $7.58 and a 1-year high of $9.95.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 4th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $69.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.38 million. Barings BDC had a net margin of 45.35% and a return on equity of 10.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Barings BDC will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.45%. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is presently 84.55%.

Insider Activity at Barings BDC

In other Barings BDC news, insider Michael Freno purchased 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.73 per share, for a total transaction of $267,575.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 71,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $692,240.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barings BDC

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBDC. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Barings BDC in the third quarter valued at $913,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 1,692.9% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 252,079 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Barings BDC by 104.8% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 40,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 20,479 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Barings BDC by 6.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 395,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,528,000 after acquiring an additional 23,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Barings BDC by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,530,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,632,000 after purchasing an additional 76,390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

About Barings BDC

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.