CION Investment Corporation (NYSE:CION) Short Interest Up 353.5% in March

CION Investment Corporation (NYSE:CION) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 814,224 shares, a growth of 353.5% from the February 26th total of 179,558 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 801,197 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 801,197 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in CION Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in CION Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CION Investment by 21.7% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of CION Investment by 183.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 5,739 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CION Investment during the third quarter worth $95,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.01% of the company’s stock.

CION Investment Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE CION opened at $6.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $350.27 million, a PE ratio of -17.78 and a beta of 1.09. CION Investment has a twelve month low of $6.50 and a twelve month high of $11.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.22.

CION Investment (NYSE:CION) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.04). CION Investment had a positive return on equity of 12.42% and a negative net margin of 8.57%.The firm had revenue of $53.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.77 million. On average, equities analysts predict that CION Investment will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

CION Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. CION Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently -307.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CION has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut CION Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of CION Investment in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of CION Investment from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of CION Investment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CION Investment has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average price target of $7.00.

CION Investment Company Profile

CION Investment Corporation is a closed‐end, non‐diversified management investment company organized as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Externally managed by CION Investment Management, LLC, the firm specializes in providing flexible capital solutions to U.S. and Canadian middle‐market companies. By combining debt and equity financing, CION seeks to support growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and other strategic initiatives for its portfolio companies.

The company’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, subordinated debt and private equity interests.