Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:GAIN) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.64, but opened at $16.25. Gladstone Investment shares last traded at $16.03, with a volume of 43,493 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gladstone Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Gladstone Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $16.50 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Gladstone Investment from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.75.

Gladstone Investment Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $632.74 million, a PE ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.74.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The investment management company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). Gladstone Investment had a net margin of 186.47% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The company had revenue of $25.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.80 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gladstone Investment Corporation will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gladstone Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. Gladstone Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.47%.

Institutional Trading of Gladstone Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gladstone Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Gladstone Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Gladstone Investment by 960.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 4,804 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Gladstone Investment during the second quarter worth approximately $105,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Gladstone Investment by 272.1% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,946 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares during the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.