PennantPark Investment Co. (NASDAQ:PNNT) to Issue $0.08 Monthly Dividend

PennantPark Investment Co. (NASDAQ:PNNT) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, January 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the asset manager on Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th.

PennantPark Investment has increased its dividend by an average of 14.2% per year over the last three years. PennantPark Investment has a dividend payout ratio of 111.6% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect PennantPark Investment to earn $0.87 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 110.3%.

PennantPark Investment Price Performance

Shares of PNNT traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $7.23. The company had a trading volume of 503,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,057. The company has a market capitalization of $472.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53 and a beta of 1.47. PennantPark Investment has a 12-month low of $6.43 and a 12-month high of $8.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PNNT shares. Compass Point raised PennantPark Investment from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut PennantPark Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

About PennantPark Investment

PennantPark Investment Corporation, a business development company is a private equity fund specializes in direct and mezzanine investments in middle market companies. It invests in the form of mezzanine debt, senior secured loans, and equity investments. The fund typically invests in buildings and real estate, hotels, gaming and leisure, technology, telecommunications, transportation, information technology services, electronics, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, education and childcare, financial services, printing and publishing, consumer products, business services, energy & Related Services and utilities, distribution, oil and gas, media, environmental services, aerospace and defense, building materials, capital equipment, chemicals, plastics, & rubber, food & beverage, wholesale, manufacturing and basic industries and retail.