Short Interest in Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) Declines By 6.3%

Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 149,200 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the April 15th total of 159,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 291,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Fidus Investment Stock Performance

FDUS remained flat at $19.79 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 115,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,862. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.63. Fidus Investment has a 1 year low of $17.63 and a 1 year high of $21.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $624.45 million, a P/E ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The asset manager reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $36.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.83 million. Fidus Investment had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 60.25%. Research analysts forecast that Fidus Investment will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidus Investment Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.69%. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidus Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FDUS. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fidus Investment in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Fidus Investment by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fidus Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fidus Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fidus Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.14% of the company’s stock.

About Fidus Investment

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans.