PennantPark Investment Co. (NASDAQ:PNNT) Plans $0.08 Monthly Dividend

PennantPark Investment Co. (NASDAQ:PNNT) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the asset manager on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th.

PennantPark Investment has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.2% per year over the last three years. PennantPark Investment has a payout ratio of 111.6% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect PennantPark Investment to earn $0.87 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 110.3%.

PennantPark Investment Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of PennantPark Investment stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $6.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 70,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,686. The company has a market capitalization of $441.43 million, a P/E ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.15. PennantPark Investment has a one year low of $6.31 and a one year high of $8.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Compass Point upgraded shares of PennantPark Investment from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered PennantPark Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut PennantPark Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.00.

PennantPark Investment Company Profile

PennantPark Investment Corporation, a business development company is a private equity fund specializes in direct and mezzanine investments in middle market companies. It invests in the form of mezzanine debt, senior secured loans, and equity investments. The fund typically invests in buildings and real estate, hotels, gaming and leisure, technology, telecommunications, transportation, information technology services, electronics, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, education and childcare, financial services, printing and publishing, consumer products, business services, energy & Related Services and utilities, distribution, oil and gas, media, environmental services, aerospace and defense, building materials, capital equipment, chemicals, plastics, & rubber, food & beverage, wholesale, manufacturing and basic industries and retail.