Short Interest in BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Expands By 42.7%

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,870,000 shares, a growth of 42.7% from the November 30th total of 1,310,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 595,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on TCPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised BlackRock TCP Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Jason Mehring purchased 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.30 per share, for a total transaction of $41,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president now directly owns 19,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,200.20. The trade was a 29.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock TCP Capital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TCPC. Barings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 3,878.9% during the second quarter. Barings LLC now owns 17,492,789 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $188,922,000 after buying an additional 17,053,151 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in BlackRock TCP Capital by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,963,463 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $21,205,000 after purchasing an additional 284,802 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $608,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital during the third quarter valued at about $526,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital in the third quarter valued at about $431,000.

BlackRock TCP Capital Stock Down 0.9 %

BlackRock TCP Capital stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.56. The company had a trading volume of 539,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,648. BlackRock TCP Capital has a fifty-two week low of $7.71 and a fifty-two week high of $11.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 39.37 and a quick ratio of 39.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $732.66 million, a P/E ratio of -17.12 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $8.79 and its 200-day moving average is $9.31.

BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The investment management company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.04). BlackRock TCP Capital had a positive return on equity of 14.16% and a negative net margin of 15.22%. The firm had revenue of $70.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock TCP Capital will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock TCP Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock TCP Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 20.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. BlackRock TCP Capital’s payout ratio is -272.00%.

BlackRock TCP Capital Company Profile

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. is a business development company specializing in direct equity and debt investments in middle-market, small businesses, debt securities, senior secured loans, junior loans, originated loans, mezzanine, senior debt instruments, bonds, and secondary-market investments. It typically invests in communication services, public relations services, television, wireless telecommunication services, apparel, textile mills, restaurants, retailing, energy, oil and gas extraction, Patent owners and Lessors, Federal and Federally- Sponsored Credit agencies, insurance, hospital and healthcare centers, Biotechnology, engineering services, heavy electrical equipment, tax accounting, scientific and related consulting services, charter freight air transportation, Information technology consulting, application hosting services, software diagram and design, computer aided design, communication equipment, electronics manufacturing equipment, computer components, chemicals.