Blue Owl Capital Corporation (NYSE:OBDC) Short Interest Up 24.2% in December

Blue Owl Capital Corporation (NYSE:OBDC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 13,892,933 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the December 15th total of 11,184,742 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,734,566 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,734,566 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OBDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on Blue Owl Capital from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Blue Owl Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Blue Owl Capital from $14.50 to $13.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Blue Owl Capital and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Blue Owl Capital from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Owl Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.56.

Blue Owl Capital Price Performance

Shares of OBDC traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $12.62. 3,972,990 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,712,785. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.38. Blue Owl Capital has a fifty-two week low of $11.65 and a fifty-two week high of $15.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OBDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03). Blue Owl Capital had a net margin of 36.89% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $453.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.81 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Blue Owl Capital will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blue Owl Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Blue Owl Capital’s payout ratio is presently 104.96%.

Insider Activity at Blue Owl Capital

In other Blue Owl Capital news, CEO Craig Packer purchased 83,200 shares of Blue Owl Capital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.75 per share, with a total value of $977,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 41,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $488,800. This represents a -200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Neena Reddy acquired 7,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.06 per share, for a total transaction of $103,043.40. Following the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 7,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,043.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OBDC. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund A purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Owl Capital in the second quarter valued at $218,884,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Blue Owl Capital during the third quarter worth about $25,266,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Blue Owl Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $17,818,000. Caz Investments LP purchased a new stake in Blue Owl Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,357,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blue Owl Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.83% of the company’s stock.

About Blue Owl Capital

Blue Owl Capital Corporation (NYSE: OBDC) is a publicly traded business development company sponsored by Blue Owl Capital, a global alternative asset manager. Launched in 2020, the firm provides customized financing solutions to middle-market companies across various industries. As an externally managed BDC, Blue Owl Capital Corporation leverages the deep credit‐investment capabilities of its sponsor to deliver flexible capital tailored to the needs of growing businesses.

The company’s investment activities span a range of private credit products, including first‐lien senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, second‐lien financings, mezzanine debt, and minority equity co-investments.