Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Stellus Capital Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Stellus Capital Investment from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stellus Capital Investment has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.00.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:SCM traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 315,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 176,407. Stellus Capital Investment has a 52-week low of $11.19 and a 52-week high of $15.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.59 million, a P/E ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.02 and a 200-day moving average of $13.63.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 14th. The investment management company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Stellus Capital Investment had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 38.24%.The company had revenue of $27.03 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Stellus Capital Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.1333 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Stellus Capital Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stellus Capital Investment

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SCM. Condor Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 2.7% during the third quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 202,846 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 5,294 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Stellus Capital Investment in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stellus Capital Investment by 15.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,322 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 19,337 shares in the last quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Stellus Capital Investment during the third quarter worth about $406,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in Stellus Capital Investment by 7.1% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 69,241 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 4,586 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.22% of the company’s stock.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.