Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Portman Ridge Finance Co. (NASDAQ:PTMN) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 116,900 shares, a decrease of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 143,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 46,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Portman Ridge Finance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Portman Ridge Finance Stock Performance

Shares of PTMN stock opened at $12.13 on Tuesday. Portman Ridge Finance has a 12-month low of $11.60 and a 12-month high of $20.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $111.53 million, a PE ratio of 32.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Portman Ridge Finance (NASDAQ:PTMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.08). Portman Ridge Finance had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 5.47%. The firm had revenue of $14.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.14 million. Analysts expect that Portman Ridge Finance will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portman Ridge Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 24th. Portman Ridge Finance’s payout ratio is -293.75%.

Institutional Trading of Portman Ridge Finance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PTMN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Portman Ridge Finance during the 4th quarter worth $1,702,000. Founders Financial Alliance LLC raised its stake in Portman Ridge Finance by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 62,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in Portman Ridge Finance by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 65,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 21,859 shares during the last quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 29,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bulldog Investors LLP raised its stake in shares of Portman Ridge Finance by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. Bulldog Investors LLP now owns 216,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 131,630 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.14% of the company’s stock.

Portman Ridge Finance Company Profile

Portman Ridge Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in investments in unitranche loans (including last out), first lien loans, second lien loans, subordinated debt, equity co-investment, mezzanine, buyout in middle market companies. It also makes acquisitions in businesses complementary to the firm's business.