Short Interest in BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Drops By 34.2%

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,230,000 shares, a drop of 34.2% from the December 15th total of 1,870,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 595,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 upgraded BlackRock TCP Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.00.

BlackRock TCP Capital Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of BlackRock TCP Capital stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $8.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 319,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,468. The stock has a market cap of $757.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.71 and a beta of 1.50. BlackRock TCP Capital has a 52 week low of $7.71 and a 52 week high of $11.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 39.37 and a quick ratio of 39.37.

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

BlackRock TCP Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. BlackRock TCP Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently -271.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock TCP Capital news, President Jason Mehring bought 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.30 per share, for a total transaction of $41,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the president now directly owns 19,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,200.20. This trade represents a 29.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock TCP Capital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,878 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 75,121 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 9,655 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in BlackRock TCP Capital during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in BlackRock TCP Capital by 190.3% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 71,075 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 46,595 shares during the period.

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.