Horizon Technology Finance Co. (NASDAQ:HRZN) Short Interest Up 23.7% in February

Horizon Technology Finance Co. (NASDAQ:HRZN) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 478,400 shares, an increase of 23.7% from the February 13th total of 386,800 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 420,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Horizon Technology Finance Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HRZN traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.26. The stock had a trading volume of 60,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,127. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.70. Horizon Technology Finance has a 52 week low of $8.46 and a 52 week high of $12.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.21 and a beta of 1.18.

Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $23.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.69 million. Horizon Technology Finance had a negative net margin of 3.69% and a positive return on equity of 15.78%. On average, analysts forecast that Horizon Technology Finance will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Horizon Technology Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.26%. Horizon Technology Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRZN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Maxim Group dropped their price objective on Horizon Technology Finance from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Horizon Technology Finance from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Horizon Technology Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Horizon Technology Finance from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $8.25 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Horizon Technology Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRZN. ETF Store Inc. lifted its position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 52,813 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance in the third quarter valued at $217,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance during the 3rd quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance during the 3rd quarter worth about $348,000. Institutional investors own 4.94% of the company’s stock.

About Horizon Technology Finance

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in lending and and investing in development-stage investments. It focuses on making secured debt and venture lending investments to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, cleantech and sustainability industries.