Short Interest in BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Grows By 21.5%

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,810,000 shares, an increase of 21.5% from the September 30th total of 1,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 619,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity at BlackRock TCP Capital

In other BlackRock TCP Capital news, Director Philip M. Tseng acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.07 per share, with a total value of $45,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,481 shares in the company, valued at $158,552.67. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Philip M. Tseng purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.07 per share, for a total transaction of $45,350.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,481 shares in the company, valued at $158,552.67. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Rajneesh Vig bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.09 per share, for a total transaction of $227,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130,930 shares in the company, valued at $1,190,153.70. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 42,000 shares of company stock valued at $381,875. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barings LLC increased its position in BlackRock TCP Capital by 3,878.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barings LLC now owns 17,492,789 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $188,922,000 after acquiring an additional 17,053,151 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 7.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,107,130 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $17,257,000 after purchasing an additional 143,667 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 61.5% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 780,960 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,434,000 after purchasing an additional 297,393 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in BlackRock TCP Capital by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 503,910 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,442,000 after purchasing an additional 54,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in BlackRock TCP Capital by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 468,240 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,057,000 after buying an additional 33,147 shares in the last quarter.

BlackRock TCP Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:TCPC traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 331,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,867. The company has a current ratio of 44.47, a quick ratio of 44.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.57 and a 200-day moving average of $9.83. The company has a market capitalization of $701.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.47 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock TCP Capital has a fifty-two week low of $8.02 and a fifty-two week high of $12.43.

BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The investment management company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. BlackRock TCP Capital had a positive return on equity of 14.42% and a negative net margin of 20.11%. The business had revenue of $71.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock TCP Capital will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock TCP Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. BlackRock TCP Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently -256.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on TCPC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock TCP Capital from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.83.

About BlackRock TCP Capital

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. is a business development company specializing in direct equity and debt investments in middle-market, small businesses, debt securities, senior secured loans, junior loans, originated loans, mezzanine, senior debt instruments, bonds, and secondary-market investments. It typically invests in communication services, public relations services, television, wireless telecommunication services, apparel, textile mills, restaurants, retailing, energy, oil and gas extraction, Patent owners and Lessors, Federal and Federally- Sponsored Credit agencies, insurance, hospital and healthcare centers, Biotechnology, engineering services, heavy electrical equipment, tax accounting, scientific and related consulting services, charter freight air transportation, Information technology consulting, application hosting services, software diagram and design, computer aided design, communication equipment, electronics manufacturing equipment, computer components, chemicals.