Empirical Asset Management LLC Sells 5,410 Shares of Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)

Empirical Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) by 27.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,339 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,410 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Barings BDC were worth $123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Barings BDC by 4.8% during the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Barings BDC by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 256,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 1.3% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 99,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Barings BDC by 8.8% in the second quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Barings BDC by 13.9% in the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Barings BDC from $8.50 to $8.75 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th.

Barings BDC Price Performance

Barings BDC stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.03. The stock had a trading volume of 665,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 525,818. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $957.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. Barings BDC, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.96 and a 1-year high of $9.89.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. Barings BDC had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 44.26%. The firm had revenue of $75.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.25 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.52%. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is currently 87.39%.

Barings BDC Company 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.