Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) Short Interest Up 96.4% in March

Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. (NYSE:BCSF) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 971,577 shares, an increase of 96.4% from the February 26th total of 494,648 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 612,701 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BCSF shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE BCSF traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.05. 612,081 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 578,409. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a fifty-two week low of $11.82 and a fifty-two week high of $16.91. The stock has a market cap of $781.62 million, a PE ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 0.60.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Bain Capital Specialty Finance had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 36.14%.The firm had revenue of $68.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.48 million. On average, analysts expect that Bain Capital Specialty Finance will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.9%. Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Bain Capital Specialty Finance during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 52.5% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Bain Capital Specialty Finance by 352.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares during the period.

Bain Capital Specialty Finance Company Profile

Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE: BCSF) is a closed-end interval fund organized as a specialty finance company. Since commencing operations in March 2017, the company has focused on originating and acquiring debt and equity investments in middle-market companies. It is structured to offer investors access to private credit and special situations strategies that are typically unavailable through traditional public debt markets.

The firm’s core business activities include direct lending to U.S.