Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Share Price Breaks Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE:SCM) shares passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $8.69 and traded as low as $7.38. Stellus Capital Investment shares last traded at $7.4150, with a volume of 125,856 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Stellus Capital Investment from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on shares of Stellus Capital Investment from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.25.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.18 and a 200 day moving average of $8.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.89 million, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 0.71.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The investment management company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The company had revenue of $30.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.38 million. Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 30.66% and a return on equity of 9.09%. Equities analysts predict that Stellus Capital Investment Corporation will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.0833 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Stellus Capital Investment’s payout ratio is 98.04%.

Institutional Trading of Stellus Capital Investment

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Stellus Capital Investment during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its holdings in Stellus Capital Investment by 11.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 284,746 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 29,267 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Stellus Capital Investment during the second quarter worth about $483,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,009,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $565,000. Institutional investors own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation (NYSE: SCM) is a business development company that provides customized financing to privately owned middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in debt, including first-lien, second-lien and unitranche loans, and may also make equity investments alongside its loans.

Stellus Capital Investment typically focuses on established companies across a range of industries, with investments designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives and other corporate purposes.