Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on GAIN. Weiss Ratings downgraded Gladstone Investment from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Gladstone Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.75.

Gladstone Investment Price Performance

Shares of GAIN stock opened at $15.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $613.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.81. Gladstone Investment has a 1 year low of $13.11 and a 1 year high of $17.14.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The investment management company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $28.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.75 million. Gladstone Investment had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 158.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gladstone Investment will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Gladstone Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Gladstone Investment’s payout ratio is presently 22.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gladstone Investment

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gladstone Investment during the second quarter worth about $123,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Gladstone Investment by 35.8% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 804,098 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $12,431,000 after purchasing an additional 212,170 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gladstone Investment in the second quarter valued at approximately $572,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Gladstone Investment by 2.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,653 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart LLC bought a new stake in Gladstone Investment during the first quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Gladstone Investment

Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:GAIN) is an externally managed business development company that invests in established lower-middle-market businesses in the United States. The company seeks to provide capital to privately held companies that may have limited access to traditional financing.

Gladstone Investment primarily invests through secured and unsecured debt, subordinated debt and equity securities. Its investment activities support transactions such as management buyouts, recapitalizations, acquisitions and growth initiatives.