Short Interest in CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) Expands By 50.3%

CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 349,400 shares, an increase of 50.3% from the February 28th total of 232,400 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 317,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CION Investment by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 504,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,750,000 after acquiring an additional 62,365 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in CION Investment in the third quarter valued at about $161,000. A&I Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of CION Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $386,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CION Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $466,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 67.6% in the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 11,408 shares in the last quarter. 32.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CION Investment Price Performance

CION stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.48. The stock had a trading volume of 108,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 236,115. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.66. The firm has a market cap of $555.46 million, a PE ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.11. CION Investment has a 12-month low of $10.14 and a 12-month high of $12.71.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $87.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.11 million. CION Investment had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 31.21%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CION Investment will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

CION Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. CION Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 228.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of CION Investment in a report on Monday, March 17th.

CION Investment Company Profile

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies.