Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) Announces Monthly Dividend of $0.13

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, April 3rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of 0.133 per share by the investment management company on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th.

Stellus Capital Investment has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Stellus Capital Investment has a dividend payout ratio of 95.2% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Stellus Capital Investment to earn $1.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 94.7%.

Stellus Capital Investment Stock Up 1.1 %

Stellus Capital Investment stock opened at $14.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $341.20 million, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. Stellus Capital Investment has a one year low of $12.19 and a one year high of $15.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.22 and a 200 day moving average of $13.03.

Stellus Capital Investment (NYSE:SCM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The investment management company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $28.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.20 million. Stellus Capital Investment had a net margin of 16.56% and a return on equity of 14.01%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stellus Capital Investment will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. B. Riley restated a “sell” rating and issued a $12.50 price target (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stellus Capital Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

About Stellus Capital Investment

Stellus Capital Investment Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in private middle-market companies. It invests through first lien, second lien, unitranche, and mezzanine debt financing, often with a corresponding equity investment. The fund prefers to invest in US and Canada.