Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GAIN. Weiss Ratings raised Gladstone Investment from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Gladstone Investment from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Gladstone Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Gladstone Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $16.50 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gladstone Investment currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $16.75.

Gladstone Investment Stock Performance

GAIN stock opened at $16.53 on Wednesday. Gladstone Investment has a 52 week low of $13.11 and a 52 week high of $17.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.88 and its 200 day moving average is $15.22. The firm has a market cap of $658.22 million, a P/E ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The investment management company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). Gladstone Investment had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 158.95%.The business had revenue of $25.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.80 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Gladstone Investment will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Gladstone Investment

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GAIN. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gladstone Investment by 2.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 854,730 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,812,000 after buying an additional 18,089 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Gladstone Investment by 47.1% during 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 last quarter. PFG Advisors boosted its stake in Gladstone Investment by 206.0% during the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 305,248 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after purchasing an additional 205,504 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Gladstone Investment by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 273,752 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 51,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Outfitters Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gladstone Investment by 1.2% during the fourth 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 in 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.