Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $10.85 and last traded at $10.60, with a volume of 57101 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.78.

Barings BDC Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 38.54%. The firm had revenue of $70.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.35 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total transaction of $285,412.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Stephen R. Byers bought 8,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.73 per share, for a total transaction of $82,559.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $486,509.73. This represents a 20.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 14,048 shares of company stock worth $136,772. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barings BDC

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Barings BDC by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 74,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 64,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Barings BDC by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 31,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Barings BDC by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 39,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the last quarter. 44.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.