CION Investment (NYSE:CION) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CION Investment (NYSE:CION) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of CION Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of CION Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CION Investment has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

CION Investment Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CION opened at $9.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $512.83 million, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.76 and its 200-day moving average is $9.85. CION Investment has a 52-week low of $8.51 and a 52-week high of $12.71.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.39. CION Investment had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 10.59%.The company had revenue of $78.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.41 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that CION Investment will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

CION Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. CION Investment’s payout ratio is 282.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CION Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in CION Investment by 103.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 14,515 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in shares of CION Investment by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in CION Investment by 1,084.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 88,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 80,841 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CION Investment by 165.0% during the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 10,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in CION Investment by 2.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. 32.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CION Investment Company Profile

CION Investment Corporation is a closed‐end, non‐diversified management investment company organized as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Externally managed by CION Investment Management, LLC, the firm specializes in providing flexible capital solutions to U.S. and Canadian middle‐market companies. By combining debt and equity financing, CION seeks to support growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and other strategic initiatives for its portfolio companies.

The company’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, subordinated debt and private equity interests.