CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) Short Interest Update

CION Investment Co. (NYSE:CION) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 439,900 shares, an increase of 25.9% from the March 15th total of 349,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 348,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

CION Investment Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:CION traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.45. 233,080 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 253,116. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.38. The company has a market cap of $500.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.17. CION Investment has a 1 year low of $8.51 and a 1 year high of $12.71.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). CION Investment had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $87.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.11 million. Equities analysts forecast that CION Investment will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CION Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. CION Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 228.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of CION Investment in a report on Monday, March 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CION Investment

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in CION Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at $161,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CION Investment in the 3rd quarter worth $127,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of CION Investment by 13.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 358,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,261,000 after buying an additional 43,076 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of CION Investment by 108.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 10,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in CION Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $195,000. Institutional investors own 32.01% of the company’s stock.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies.