Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 56,449 Shares of Fidus Investment Corporation $FDUS

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ:FDUS) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 903,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,449 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 2.55% of Fidus Investment worth $18,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fidus Investment by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,913,000 after purchasing an additional 80,500 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fidus Investment by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 209,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 56,778 shares during the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Fidus Investment by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 247,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 57,215 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Fidus Investment by 34.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 155,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 39,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Fidus Investment by 10.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 370,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,481,000 after buying an additional 34,837 shares in the last quarter. 28.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fidus Investment Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Fidus Investment stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 77,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,906. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $672.28 million, a P/E ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.72. Fidus Investment Corporation has a one year low of $16.70 and a one year high of $22.09.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Fidus Investment had a net margin of 52.87% and a return on equity of 10.71%. The firm had revenue of $32.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.46 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fidus Investment Corporation will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidus Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 73.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FDUS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Fidus Investment from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidus Investment in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.25.

Fidus Investment Profile

Fidus Investment Corporation (NASDAQ: FDUS) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides specialized financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. Operated by Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC, a registered investment adviser, the company is regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

The firm focuses on structuring senior secured and unitranche loans, mezzanine debt and equity investments for established businesses across a range of industries.