Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) Short Interest Update

Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 117,800 shares, a growth of 31.2% from the February 13th total of 89,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 40,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portman Ridge Finance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 29,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 6,031 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 62,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in Portman Ridge Finance by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 65,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 21,859 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Portman Ridge Finance in the 4th quarter valued at $1,702,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Portman Ridge Finance by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 106,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 21,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.14% of the company’s stock.

Portman Ridge Finance Trading Down 0.3 %

PTMN traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.41. 47,361 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,384. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a current ratio of 3.14. Portman Ridge Finance has a fifty-two week low of $15.16 and a fifty-two week high of $20.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.97 million, a PE ratio of 41.65 and a beta of 1.02.

Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.08). Portman Ridge Finance had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 5.47%. The business had revenue of $14.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.14 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Portman Ridge Finance will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Portman Ridge Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. Portman Ridge Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -431.25%.

Portman Ridge Finance Company Profile

Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business.