Short Interest in Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:FDUS) Expands By 36.0%

Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:FDUS) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 682,548 shares, a growth of 36.0% from the March 15th total of 501,725 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 409,349 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FDUS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidus Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Fidus Investment from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fidus Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Fidus Investment Stock Down 1.0%

Fidus Investment stock opened at $18.55 on Friday. Fidus Investment has a 52-week low of $16.86 and a 52-week high of $22.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.11 and a 200-day moving average of $19.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $703.97 million, a P/E ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 0.69.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $32.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.46 million. Fidus Investment had a net margin of 52.87% and a return on equity of 10.71%. On average, research analysts expect that Fidus Investment will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidus Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 20th. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fidus Investment

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,913,000 after purchasing an additional 80,500 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 209,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 56,778 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 247,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 57,215 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 155,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 39,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 485,780 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,376,000 after purchasing an additional 84,320 shares in the last quarter. 28.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fidus Investment Company Profile

Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ: FDUS) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides specialized financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. Operated by Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC, a registered investment adviser, the company is regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

The firm focuses on structuring senior secured and unitranche loans, mezzanine debt and equity investments for established businesses across a range of industries.