Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 322,954 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,390 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Barings BDC worth $3,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 41.9% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 28,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 8,565 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Barings BDC by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Barings BDC by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,138,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,808,000 after purchasing an additional 321,638 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barings BDC by 13.4% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. 44.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barings BDC Stock Performance

BBDC opened at $9.50 on Thursday. Barings BDC, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.55 and a twelve month high of $10.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.84.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Barings BDC had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 39.59%. The company had revenue of $70.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.95%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. Barings BDC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Barings BDC news, Director Stephen R. Byers acquired 8,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.73 per share, for a total transaction of $82,559.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $486,509.73. The trade was a 20.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of Barings BDC stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total value of $285,412.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased 14,048 shares of company stock valued at $136,772 in the last three months. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Barings BDC Company Profile

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.