CION Investment (NYSE:CION) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CION Investment (NYSE:CION) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

CION has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research cut shares of CION Investment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $8.50 price objective (down previously from $9.00) on shares of CION Investment in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of CION Investment in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.50.

CION Investment Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of CION stock opened at $9.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $500.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.58 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.76. CION Investment has a twelve month low of $8.51 and a twelve month high of $12.71.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $78.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.41 million. CION Investment had a negative net margin of 4.57% and a positive return on equity of 9.63%. As a group, research analysts predict that CION Investment will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

CION Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.0%. CION Investment’s payout ratio is currently -757.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CION Investment by 3.3% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CION Investment by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CION Investment by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in CION Investment by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in CION Investment by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 52,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.01% of the company’s stock.

CION Investment Company Profile

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies.