Trexquant Investment LP Raises Stock Holdings in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)

Trexquant Investment LP boosted its stake in shares of Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,886 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,957 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.12% of Barings BDC worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Barings BDC by 1.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 64,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Barings BDC in the third quarter valued at approximately $307,000. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in Barings BDC in the third quarter worth $99,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Barings BDC in the third quarter worth $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

Barings BDC Stock Up 7.4 %

NYSE:BBDC opened at $8.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Barings BDC, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.66 and a twelve month high of $10.85. The company has a market cap of $892.81 million, a PE ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.74.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $70.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.35 million. Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.94%. Analysts anticipate that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Barings BDC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Barings BDC from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

Barings BDC Profile

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.