Traders Purchase High Volume of Main Street Capital Put Options (NYSE:MAIN)

Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE:MAIN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 2,569 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 205% compared to the average daily volume of 841 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MAIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Noble Financial restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Main Street Capital in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Main Street Capital from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Loop Capital raised Main Street Capital to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Main Street Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Main Street Capital in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.71.

Institutional Trading of Main Street Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MAIN. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Main Street Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Main Street Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Main Street Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Main Street Capital by 109.6% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Main Street Capital in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 20.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Main Street Capital Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MAIN traded up $0.60 during trading on Monday, hitting $52.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 298,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 715,046. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 0.80. Main Street Capital has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $67.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.82.

Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Main Street Capital had a net margin of 87.11% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The firm had revenue of $156.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Main Street Capital will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Main Street Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 8th. Main Street Capital’s payout ratio is currently 56.52%.

Main Street Capital Company Profile

Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE: MAIN) is a publicly traded business development company that provides flexible debt and equity capital to lower middle market companies in the United States. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Main Street Capital was formed in 2007 and operates under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The firm’s management services are provided by Main Street Capital Management, L.P., which focuses on identifying growing private companies with enterprise values typically between $10 million and $150 million.

Main Street Capital’s primary offerings include first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and equity co-investments or minority equity positions.