NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Triangle Capital Corp. fell Tuesday after Robert W. Baird & Co. cut its rating for the specialty finance company, saying that while the company remains strong the recent rise in its stock price makes it a less desirable investment.
THE SPARK: Baird's Bryce Rowe lowered his rating for Triangle to "Neutral" from "Buy," but backed his $23 price target, noting that its shares have risen 21 percent since the beginning of June.
THE BIG PICTURE: Raleigh, N.C.-based Triangle focuses on private equity and venture capital investments. It invests in a variety of companies across the U.S. Late Monday, the company said it closed a $10.5 million investment in CIS Holdings Corp., which designs and modifies commercial IT equipment for military and intelligence use.
THE ANALYSIS: "We remain positively disposed to Triangle as one of the highest quality business development companies in the sector, but given recent strength in the stock price, we view the risk/reward as more balanced at current levels and would wait for incremental weakness to add to positions," Rowe wrote in his note to investors.
THE SHARES: Down $1.18, or 4.9 percent, to $23.06 in afternoon trading, after dropping as low as $22.70 earlier in the day.
Over the past 52 weeks, the company's shares have traded between $13.62 and $24.27.
