MSC Income Fund (NYSE:MSIF) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

MSC Income Fund (NYSE:MSIF) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.88.

Several analysts recently commented on MSIF shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of MSC Income Fund from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MSC Income Fund from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of MSC Income Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th.

MSC Income Fund Stock Up 0.1%

MSIF opened at $11.49 on Wednesday. MSC Income Fund has a 52 week low of $10.80 and a 52 week high of $14.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.07. The firm has a market cap of $541.74 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.37.

MSC Income Fund (NYSE:MSIF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $35.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.46 million.

MSC Income Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1,121.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Income Fund

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Income Fund during the first quarter worth $153,000. Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in MSC Income Fund in the 1st quarter valued at $148,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in MSC Income Fund by 150.5% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 24,450 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in MSC Income Fund by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC acquired a new position in MSC Income Fund in the 1st quarter valued at $455,000.

MSC Income Fund is a business development company that invests primarily in privately owned, lower middle-market companies in the United States. The fund seeks to provide financing to businesses that may not have access to traditional bank lending or public capital markets.

Its investment portfolio generally consists of secured and unsecured debt investments, including first-lien, unitranche and second-lien loans, as well as select equity investments and other securities. Through these investments, MSC Income Fund aims to generate current income while also pursuing long-term capital appreciation.

The fund is externally managed and is affiliated with Main Street Capital Corporation, an investment firm focused on providing customized debt and equity financing to lower middle-market and middle-market businesses.