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

Horizon Technology Finance Co. (NASDAQ:HRZN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 612,000 shares, a growth of 27.9% from the February 28th total of 478,400 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 370,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Horizon Technology Finance Price Performance

Shares of Horizon Technology Finance stock opened at $9.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $379.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -78.50 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.43 and its 200-day moving average is $9.59. Horizon Technology Finance has a one year low of $8.46 and a one year high of $12.63.

Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) last released 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 firm had revenue of $23.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.69 million. Horizon Technology Finance had a negative net margin of 3.69% and a positive return on equity of 15.78%. On average, equities analysts expect that Horizon Technology Finance will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Horizon Technology Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. Horizon Technology Finance’s payout ratio is -1,100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Horizon Technology Finance

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Horizon Technology Finance by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 16,093 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its position in Horizon Technology Finance by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 45,725 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 2,173 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Horizon Technology Finance by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,290 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 3,996 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Horizon Technology Finance by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,344 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 6,416 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Horizon Technology Finance during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $117,000. 4.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Horizon Technology Finance Company Profile

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.