Horizon Technology Finance Co. (NASDAQ:HRZN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Horizon Technology Finance Co. (NASDAQ:HRZN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 478,400 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the February 13th total of 386,800 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 420,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horizon Technology Finance

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 49,897 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 15,397 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Horizon Technology Finance by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 16,093 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Horizon Technology Finance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $447,000. 4.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HRZN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Horizon Technology Finance from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered Horizon Technology Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Maxim Group cut their target price on Horizon Technology Finance from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded Horizon Technology Finance from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $8.25 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.56.

Horizon Technology Finance Price Performance

Shares of HRZN opened at $9.31 on Thursday. Horizon Technology Finance has a one year low of $8.46 and a one year high of $12.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.41 and a 200-day moving average of $9.70. The company has a market cap of $375.33 million, a PE ratio of -77.58 and a beta of 1.18.

Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The investment management company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $23.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.69 million. Horizon Technology Finance had a positive return on equity of 15.78% and a negative net margin of 3.69%. Analysts expect that Horizon Technology Finance will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Horizon Technology Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. Horizon Technology Finance’s payout ratio is currently -1,100.00%.

About Horizon Technology Finance

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in lending and and investing in development-stage investments. It focuses on making secured debt and venture lending investments to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, cleantech and sustainability industries.