Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) to Issue $0.13 Monthly Dividend

Stellus Capital Investment Co. (NYSE:SCM) declared a monthly dividend on Wednesday, April 3rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 11.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Stellus Capital Investment has a 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 research 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 Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SCM opened at $14.14 on Friday. Stellus Capital Investment has a 12-month low of $12.19 and a 12-month high of $15.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.03. The company has a market capitalization of $341.20 million, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SCM shares. B. Riley reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $12.50 price objective (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com raised Stellus Capital Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Stellus Capital Investment in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

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.