Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $8.70, but opened at $8.40. Barings BDC shares last traded at $8.55, with a volume of 196,237 shares.

The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.03). Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $64.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.12%. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BBDC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Barings BDC from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Barings BDC from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Barings BDC by 393.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Barings BDC during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barings BDC in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barings BDC in the 4th quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Barings BDC by 276.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 7,448 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

Barings BDC Stock Down 1.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $904.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.99 and a 200 day moving average of $9.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Barings BDC Company Profile

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.