Blackrock Tcp Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Short Interest Update

Blackrock Tcp Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 5,144,286 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the February 26th total of 4,216,422 shares. Currently, 6.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,692,220 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Blackrock Tcp Capital Price Performance

TCPC stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $3.54. 1,354,614 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,281,827. Blackrock Tcp Capital has a 52 week low of $3.44 and a 52 week high of $8.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.37 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 17.66 and a current ratio of 17.66.

Blackrock Tcp Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The investment management company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.03). Blackrock Tcp Capital had a positive return on equity of 15.06% and a negative net margin of 44.07%.The business had revenue of $43.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.99 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackrock Tcp Capital will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackrock Tcp Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 19.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Blackrock Tcp Capital’s payout ratio is presently -64.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Patrick Wolfe bought 6,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $25,002.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 16,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,713.90. This represents a 74.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackrock Tcp Capital

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TCPC. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Blackrock Tcp Capital by 188.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 5,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in Blackrock Tcp Capital in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Blackrock Tcp Capital in the third quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackrock Tcp Capital during the fourth quarter worth $70,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TCPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Blackrock Tcp Capital from $5.50 to $3.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $3.50 target price (down from $7.00) on shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Blackrock Tcp Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Blackrock Tcp Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $3.50.

Blackrock Tcp Capital Company Profile

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker TCPC. Externally managed by BlackRock, the firm provides customized financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies, with a focus on sponsor-backed transactions. Its core strategy centers on delivering current income and capital appreciation through a diversified portfolio of debt and equity investments across a variety of sectors, including consumer products, healthcare, business services and industrials.

Since its initial public offering in 2013, BlackRock TCP Capital has partnered with private equity sponsors to underwrite and structure senior secured first-lien loans, second-lien loans, mezzanine debt and select equity co-investments.