Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $8.70, but opened at $8.40. Barings BDC shares last traded at $8.55, with a volume of 196,237 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $64.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.78 million. Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.12%. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Barings BDC from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Barings BDC from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBDC. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Barings BDC by 0.4% during the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,096,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,540,000 after acquiring an additional 12,208 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Barings BDC by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,347,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,470,000 after purchasing an additional 79,994 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,542,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barings BDC during the fourth quarter worth about $8,891,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 756,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 15,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

Barings BDC Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.99 and a 200-day moving average of $9.57. The firm has a market cap of $904.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.73.

About Barings BDC

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.