Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on GAIN. Wall Street Zen raised Gladstone Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Gladstone Investment Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of GAIN stock opened at $13.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $553.10 million, a P/E ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.84. Gladstone Investment has a 12-month low of $11.42 and a 12-month high of $15.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.94.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The investment management company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $25.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.83 million. Gladstone Investment had a net margin of 118.55% and a return on equity of 6.77%. As a group, research analysts expect that Gladstone Investment will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Gladstone Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Gladstone Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GAIN. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gladstone Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gladstone Investment by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 132,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Gladstone Investment by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 713,016 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $9,961,000 after purchasing an additional 228,168 shares during the period. Outfitters Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gladstone Investment by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 204,345 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Advisors boosted its position in shares of Gladstone Investment by 206.0% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 305,248 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,264,000 after purchasing an additional 205,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

About Gladstone Investment

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.