Is Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC) the Best Financial Dividend Stock Insiders are Buying in 2024?

Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 12

Business development company Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC) is a notable financial stock that saw insider buying activity earlier this month. Steve Byers, a director at Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC), bought 570 shares of Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC) at $9.7 per share. The transaction took place on February 28, 2024. Since then through May 13, the stock has gained about 0.8%.

Earlier this month, Barings declared a dividend of $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward dividend yield came in at a whopping 10.9%.

Barings BDC’s Dividend Makes it an Attractive Investment in the BDC Industry

During the first quarter, Barings BDC’s net investment income per share came in at  $0.28, while total investment income totaled $69.81 million, versus 67.20 million posted in the same quarter a year ago.

Barings BDC is an attractive play in the BDC sector because of its dividend. The company’s net investment income covers the dividend. Over the past year and a half the company has managed to increase its dividend. A high interest rate environment is helping the company as it can generate more net interest income on debt investments.

Photo by Ruben Sukatendel on Unsplash

Barings talked about its dividend policy and financial situation during its earnings call earlier this month:

“We remain conservative on our base dividend policy, and our Board declared a fourth quarter dividend of $0.26 per share consistent with the prior quarter. On an annualized basis, the dividend level equates to a 9.1% yield on a net asset value of $11.44. We believe the best measure of the portfolio’s performance, non-accruals, net asset value, and NII were extremely compelling for the March quarter and anticipate continued strength in the quarter’s ahead. [read the full earnings call transcript here].”

Insider Monkey’s database of 933 hedge funds shows that 12 hedge funds reported having stakes in Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC) as of the end of 2023. The biggest stake in Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC) is owned by James Morrow’s Callodine Capital Management, worth $18.3 million.

Despite this positive sentiment, the stock begs the question: is it the best financial dividend stock insiders are buying in 2024? Does it make sense for individual investors to buy Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC) right now?

Insider Monkey’s analysis shows that Barings BDC Inc (NYSE:BBDC) is not the best financial dividend stock with latest insider buying.

Click to see 10 Best Financial Dividend Stocks with Insider Buying that are better than Barings BDC.

Disclosure: None