Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gladstone Investment from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Gladstone Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial upgraded Gladstone Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $16.50 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Gladstone Investment from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $16.75.

Gladstone Investment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GAIN opened at $16.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $658.22 million, a PE ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.22. Gladstone Investment has a 1 year low of $13.11 and a 1 year high of $17.14.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The investment management company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). Gladstone Investment had a net margin of 158.95% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The business had revenue of $25.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.80 million. Analysts expect that Gladstone Investment will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gladstone Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. Gladstone Investment’s payout ratio is 22.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gladstone Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gladstone Investment during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Gladstone Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Gladstone Investment by 960.8% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 4,804 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Gladstone Investment in the second quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Gladstone Investment by 272.1% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,946 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gladstone Investment Company Profile

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ: GAIN) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that focuses on providing debt and equity financing to U.S. middle-market companies. As an externally managed closed-end fund, Gladstone Investment seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation for its shareholders by originating senior secured debt, subordinated debt and equity investments. The firm typically targets established businesses with revenues between $10 million and $150 million, across a range of industry sectors including business services, health care, industrials and specialty manufacturing.

The company’s investment strategy centers on deploying capital through first-lien and second-lien term loans, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments, often including warrants or other equity kickers.