Barings Bdc (NYSE:BBDC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Barings Bdc, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $9.30, but opened at $9.02. Barings Bdc shares last traded at $9.0550, with a volume of 103,850 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BBDC shares. Weiss Ratings raised Barings Bdc from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Barings Bdc from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Barings Bdc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.75.

Barings Bdc Stock Down 2.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.63. The company has a market cap of $953.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Barings Bdc (NYSE:BBDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. Barings Bdc had a net margin of 32.73% and a return on equity of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $54.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Barings Bdc, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Barings Bdc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.4%. Barings Bdc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 125.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barings Bdc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Barings Bdc in the fourth quarter worth $9,207,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Barings Bdc during the second quarter worth about $7,483,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Barings Bdc during the second quarter worth about $5,885,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Barings Bdc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,339,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Barings Bdc by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,309,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,677,000 after buying an additional 484,649 shares during the period. 44.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Barings Bdc

Barings BDC Inc (NYSE: BBDC) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company that provides flexible financing solutions to middle-market companies. As an investment vehicle organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940, BBDC seeks to generate both current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien loans, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The company targets established businesses across a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, industrials, consumer products and business services.

The company is sponsored and managed by Barings LLC, a global investment manager and subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual).