Capital Southwest Co. (NASDAQ:CSWC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Capital Southwest Co. (NASDAQ:CSWC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 709,400 shares, a growth of 15.3% from the September 30th total of 615,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 214,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capital Southwest

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSWC. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Capital Southwest by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 94,701 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,364,000 after acquiring an additional 22,915 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Capital Southwest by 9.5% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Capital Southwest by 55.2% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 70,201 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 24,968 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Capital Southwest by 15.8% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 847,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $21,147,000 after purchasing an additional 115,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Capital Southwest by 101.7% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the period. 23.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Capital Southwest Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSWC traded down $1.24 on Tuesday, hitting $24.48. 212,698 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 293,706. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 1.24. Capital Southwest has a 12 month low of $20.85 and a 12 month high of $27.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $25.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.54.

Capital Southwest (NASDAQ:CSWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $48.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.79 million. Capital Southwest had a return on equity of 15.70% and a net margin of 38.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Capital Southwest will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Capital Southwest Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.46%. This is a positive change from Capital Southwest’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Capital Southwest’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, B. Riley lowered their target price on Capital Southwest from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

About Capital Southwest

Capital Southwest Corporation is a business development company specializing in credit and private equity and venture capital investments in middle market companies, mezzanine, later stage, mature, late venture, emerging growth, buyouts, industry consolidation, recapitalizations and growth capital investments.