Short Interest in Capital Southwest Co. (NASDAQ:CSWC) Increases By 27.7%

Capital Southwest Co. (NASDAQ:CSWC) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, an increase of 27.7% from the March 15th total of 1,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 597,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CSWC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Capital Southwest from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Capital Southwest from $23.50 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Capital Southwest Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSWC traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $19.32. The stock had a trading volume of 153,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,210. The firm has a market cap of $977.24 million, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Capital Southwest has a twelve month low of $17.46 and a twelve month high of $27.23.

Capital Southwest (NASDAQ:CSWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. Capital Southwest had a return on equity of 15.18% and a net margin of 33.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Capital Southwest will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Capital Southwest Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.01%. Capital Southwest’s dividend payout ratio is currently 164.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capital Southwest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Capital Southwest by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Capital Southwest by 24.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 154,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,893,000 after purchasing an additional 30,423 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Capital Southwest by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 100,242 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Capital Southwest by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 398,887 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,704,000 after buying an additional 11,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC boosted its position in Capital Southwest by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 814,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,579,000 after purchasing an additional 178,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.42% of the company’s stock.

About Capital Southwest

Capital Southwest Corporation is a business development company specializing in credit and private equity and venture capital investments in middle market companies, mezzanine, later stage, mature, late venture, emerging growth, buyouts, industry consolidation, recapitalizations and growth capital investments.