Short Interest in Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) Rises By 61.5%

Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 227,300 shares, an increase of 61.5% from the September 15th total of 140,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 203,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Fidus Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidus Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Fidus Investment by 42.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 197,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,908,000 after purchasing an additional 58,768 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fidus Investment by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 600,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,861,000 after purchasing an additional 82,049 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fidus Investment by 611.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 71,651 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 61,580 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Fidus Investment in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,521,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Fidus Investment by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 122,359 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,384,000 after buying an additional 10,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.14% of the company’s stock.

Fidus Investment Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:FDUS traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.48. 137,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,535. The company has a market capitalization of $614.67 million, a PE ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 1.39. Fidus Investment has a fifty-two week low of $17.63 and a fifty-two week high of $20.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.74.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. Fidus Investment had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 67.43%. The business had revenue of $35.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fidus Investment will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Fidus Investment Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from Fidus Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.70%. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.11%.

Fidus Investment Company Profile

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans.