Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 538,300 shares, a growth of 90.0% from the September 15th total of 283,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 199,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $203,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $576,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 166.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 81,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 51,201 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 2.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 258,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,213,000 after purchasing an additional 6,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Carlyle Secured Lending Price Performance

Shares of CGBD opened at $17.25 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.89 and its 200-day moving average is $17.29. Carlyle Secured Lending has a fifty-two week low of $13.31 and a fifty-two week high of $18.74. The company has a market capitalization of $876.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.85.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 44.19%. The firm had revenue of $58.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.21 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.90%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CGBD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Carlyle Secured Lending from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc is business development company specializing in first lien debt, senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loan unsecured debt, mezzanine debt and investments in equities. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. It targets healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, high tech industries, business services, software, beverage food and tobacco, hotel gamming and leisure, banking finance insurance and in real estate sector.