BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) Short Interest Up 42.7% in December

BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TCPC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,870,000 shares, an increase of 42.7% from the November 30th total of 1,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 595,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TCPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock TCP Capital from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised BlackRock TCP Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock TCP Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.00.

Insider Activity at BlackRock TCP Capital

In other news, President Jason Mehring bought 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 owns 19,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,200.20. This represents a 29.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock TCP Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barings LLC increased its stake in BlackRock TCP Capital by 3,878.9% in the second quarter. Barings LLC now owns 17,492,789 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $188,922,000 after purchasing an additional 17,053,151 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock TCP Capital by 7.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,107,130 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $17,257,000 after buying an additional 143,667 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in BlackRock TCP Capital by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 485,458 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,024,000 after acquiring an additional 17,218 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in BlackRock TCP Capital by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 322,962 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after acquiring an additional 20,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in BlackRock TCP Capital by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 102,477 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 25,193 shares during the period.

BlackRock TCP Capital Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:TCPC traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.56. 539,786 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 513,648. BlackRock TCP Capital has a fifty-two week low of $7.71 and a fifty-two week high of $11.99. The company has a market capitalization of $732.66 million, a PE ratio of -17.12 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 39.37, a quick ratio of 39.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.31.

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

BlackRock TCP Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 20.56%. This is a boost from BlackRock TCP Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. BlackRock TCP Capital’s payout ratio is currently -272.00%.

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.