Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Blackrock Tcp Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC)

Blackrock Tcp Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 6,269 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 4,510% compared to the typical volume of 136 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TCPC has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Blackrock Tcp Capital from $5.50 to $3.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Blackrock Tcp Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $3.50 price objective (down from $7.00) on shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $3.50.

Blackrock Tcp Capital Price Performance

TCPC stock traded up $0.12 on Monday, reaching $3.63. The company had a trading volume of 607,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,286,269. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4.70 and its 200 day moving average is $5.50. The company has a market cap of $305.70 million, a P/E ratio of -3.46 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 17.66 and a current ratio of 17.66. Blackrock Tcp Capital has a 1 year low of $3.46 and a 1 year high of $8.11.

Blackrock Tcp Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The investment management company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.03). Blackrock Tcp Capital had a positive return on equity of 15.06% and a negative net margin of 44.07%.The company had revenue of $27.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.99 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackrock Tcp Capital will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackrock Tcp Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.8%. Blackrock Tcp Capital’s payout ratio is presently -64.76%.

Insider Activity at Blackrock Tcp Capital

In other news, COO Patrick Wolfe purchased 6,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $25,002.50. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 16,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,713.90. The trade was a 74.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackrock Tcp Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Blackrock Tcp Capital by 188.7% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 5,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Blackrock Tcp Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital during the 3rd quarter worth $65,000.

About Blackrock Tcp Capital

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker TCPC. Externally managed by BlackRock, the firm provides customized financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies, with a focus on sponsor-backed transactions. Its core strategy centers on delivering current income and capital appreciation through a diversified portfolio of debt and equity investments across a variety of sectors, including consumer products, healthcare, business services and industrials.

Since its initial public offering in 2013, BlackRock TCP Capital has partnered with private equity sponsors to underwrite and structure senior secured first-lien loans, second-lien loans, mezzanine debt and select equity co-investments.