Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:GAIN) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 909,936 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 334% from the previous session’s volume of 209,574 shares.The stock last traded at $14.0960 and had previously closed at $13.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GAIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Gladstone Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Gladstone Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gladstone Investment in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Gladstone Investment Stock Up 3.6%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.87 and its 200 day moving average is $13.90. The company has a market cap of $563.25 million, a P/E ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.82.

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ:GAIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The investment management company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.03). Gladstone Investment had a net margin of 118.55% and a return on equity of 6.77%. The company had revenue of $25.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.83 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gladstone Investment Corporation will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Gladstone Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Gladstone Investment’s payout ratio is presently 30.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gladstone Investment

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Gladstone Investment by 89.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 484,848 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,701,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the period. PFG Advisors grew its stake in Gladstone Investment by 206.0% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 305,248 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 205,504 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Gladstone Investment by 395.5% in the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 88,410 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 70,566 shares in the last quarter. Melia Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Gladstone Investment by 5.7% during the third quarter. Melia Wealth LLC now owns 1,197,594 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $16,551,000 after purchasing an additional 64,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Gladstone Investment in the second quarter valued at about $735,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

About Gladstone Investment

Gladstone Investment (NASDAQ: GAIN) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that focuses on providing debt and equity financing to U.S. middle-market companies. As an externally managed closed-end fund, Gladstone Investment seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation for its shareholders by originating senior secured debt, subordinated debt and equity investments. The firm typically targets established businesses with revenues between $10 million and $150 million, across a range of industry sectors including business services, health care, industrials and specialty manufacturing.

The company’s investment strategy centers on deploying capital through first-lien and second-lien term loans, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments, often including warrants or other equity kickers.