Blackrock Tcp Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Short Interest Up 22.4% in April

Blackrock Tcp Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,844,754 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the March 31st total of 4,774,069 shares. Currently, 7.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,189,854 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Insider Activity at Blackrock Tcp Capital

In related news, COO Patrick Wolfe purchased 6,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $25,002.50. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 16,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,713.90. This represents a 74.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Next Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackrock Tcp Capital by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $14,679,000 after acquiring an additional 282,123 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Blackrock Tcp Capital by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,375,549 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $12,994,000 after purchasing an additional 428,201 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Blackrock Tcp Capital by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,288,755 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $14,191,000 after purchasing an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Blackrock Tcp Capital by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,571,451 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,596,000 after purchasing an additional 128,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Blackrock Tcp Capital by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 874,972 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,425,000 after purchasing an additional 162,651 shares in the last quarter.

Blackrock Tcp Capital Trading Up 3.6%

NASDAQ:TCPC opened at $4.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.01. Blackrock Tcp Capital has a 12 month low of $3.43 and a 12 month high of $8.06. The company has a current ratio of 17.66, a quick ratio of 17.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $363.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackrock Tcp Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The investment management company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.03). Blackrock Tcp Capital had a negative net margin of 44.07% and a positive return on equity of 15.06%. The business had revenue of $43.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.99 million. Equities analysts predict that Blackrock Tcp Capital will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackrock Tcp Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Blackrock Tcp Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -64.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TCPC. Zacks Research cut shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $3.50 target price (down from $7.00) on shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $3.50.

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.