Brokerages expect PennantPark Investment Co. (NASDAQ:PNNT) to report earnings per share of $0.13 for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks. Four analysts provided earnings estimates for PennantPark Investment, with the highest EPS estimate of $0.14 and the lowest estimate of $0.11. PennantPark Investment posted earnings of $0.12 per share in the same quarter last year, indicating a positive growth rate of 8.3% year-over-year. The company is expected to release its next quarterly results after the market closes on Wednesday, February 9.

On average, analysts expect PennantPark Investment to report annual earnings of $0.61 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.56 to $0.64. For next year, analysts expect the company to post earnings of $0.67 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.64 to $0.70. Zacks earnings per share calculations are an average average based on a survey of analysts who follow PennantPark Investment.

PennantPark Investment Inc (NASDAQ:PNNT) last announced its results on Wednesday, November 17. The asset manager reported EPS of $0.17 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The company posted revenue of $23.13 million for the quarter, versus a consensus estimate of $21.04 million. PennantPark Investment had a return on equity of 5.81% and a net margin of 204.22%. During the same period last year, the company posted EPS of $0.14.

Several equity research analysts have recently taken a closer look at PNNT stocks. Zacks Investment Research upgraded PennantPark Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a Tuesday, November 23 research note. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded PennantPark Investment from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock in a Friday, Nov. 19 research note. Finally, TheStreet upgraded PennantPark Investment from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 29. Four research analysts rated the stock with a holding rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.50.

Shares of NASDAQ:PNNT traded down $0.10 during Friday’s midday session, hitting $7.03. 356,850 shares of the company were traded, against an average volume of 242,749. PennantPark Investment has a 52-week low of $5.03 and a 52-week high of $7.41. The company has a market capitalization of $471.36 million, a P/E ratio of 2.82, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.73. The company has a debt ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 3. Investors of record on Monday, December 20 received a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 17. This represents a dividend of $0.48 on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.83%. PennantPark Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.28%.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently changed their positions in the company. Colony Group LLC bought a new position in PennantPark Investment in Q3 worth $167,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in PennantPark Investment by 8.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 115,314 shares of the asset manager valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 8,799 shares in the last quarter. Claybrook Capital LLC bought a new position in PennantPark Investment in Q3 worth $872,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in PennantPark Investment in Q3 worth $2,983,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC strengthened its position in PennantPark Investment by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 675,363 shares of the asset manager valued at $4,383,000 after purchasing an additional 23,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.07% of the company’s shares.

PennantPark Investment Company Profile

PennantPark Investment Corporation is a publicly traded business development company specializing in direct and mezzanine investments in middle market companies. It invests in the form of mezzanine debt, senior secured loans and equity investments. The Company invests in equity and debt transactions through preferred stock, common stock, warrants, options, subordinated loans, mezzanine loans and senior secured loans.

See also: Current Ratio

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