Gladstone Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:GLAD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Gladstone Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:GLAD) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GLAD. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gladstone Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gladstone Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley raised Gladstone Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer upgraded Gladstone Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $26.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Gladstone Capital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th.

Gladstone Capital Trading Up 2.1%

GLAD stock opened at $20.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $461.74 million, a P/E ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.36. Gladstone Capital has a 1-year low of $18.76 and a 1-year high of $29.54.

Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ:GLAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 17th. The investment management company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Gladstone Capital had a net margin of 64.36% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The business had revenue of $23.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.72 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Gladstone Capital will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gladstone Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.8%. Gladstone Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gladstone Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Gladstone Capital by 37.5% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 230,218 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,035,000 after acquiring an additional 62,738 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Gladstone Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $551,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Gladstone Capital by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 89,519 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 25,181 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Gladstone Capital by 84.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 35,293 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 16,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Gladstone Capital by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 59,261 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 15,681 shares during the last quarter. 10.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gladstone Capital

Gladstone Capital Corporation is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that provides debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. lower middle-market companies. Operating under an external management agreement with Gladstone Management L.P., the firm offers senior secured loans, mezzanine debt and equity investments designed to support growth initiatives, acquisitions and recapitalizations. Through its focus on privately held businesses, Gladstone Capital seeks to construct a diversified portfolio across various industry sectors.

Since its formation in 2003, Gladstone Capital has developed a track record of working closely with management teams and business owners to meet their capital needs.