MidCap Financial Investment Co. (NASDAQ:MFIC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

MidCap Financial Investment Co. (NASDAQ:MFIC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 805,700 shares, a growth of 167.2% from the February 28th total of 301,500 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 467,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Trading of MidCap Financial Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MidCap Financial Investment by 71.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MidCap Financial Investment during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in MidCap Financial Investment by 197.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MidCap Financial Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of MidCap Financial Investment in the fourth quarter worth $155,000. 28.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MidCap Financial Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.60.

MidCap Financial Investment Stock Performance

Shares of MidCap Financial Investment stock traded up $0.11 on Thursday, reaching $13.24. 281,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 384,134. MidCap Financial Investment has a 1-year low of $12.26 and a 1-year high of $16.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 8.51 and a current ratio of 8.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.60.

MidCap Financial Investment (NASDAQ:MFIC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. MidCap Financial Investment had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 37.05%. The firm had revenue of $82.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.28 million. As a group, research analysts expect that MidCap Financial Investment will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MidCap Financial Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. MidCap Financial Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.03%.

MidCap Financial Investment Company Profile

MidCap Financial Investment Corporation (Former name Apollo Investment Corporation) is business development company and a closed-end, externally managed, non-diversified management investment company. It is elected to be treated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act) specializing in private equity investments in leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth capital, refinancing and private middle market companies.