CION Investment (CION) Company Overview

I am downgrading CION Investment Corporation to a hold due to suppressed growth in a high-interest rate environment and a slightly weakened dividend coverage. CION's portfolio structure is solid, but its NAV has shown no meaningful growth, attributed to net losses, a growing non-accrual rate, and reduced new investments. Despite a high 13% dividend yield, the non-accrual rate has increased to 1.85%, and earnings cover the distribution at a slightly weakened rate of 111%.

Income-focused investors could consider CION Investment Corporation for its high yields, but there are definitely risks to consider. CION offers a 12.55% dividend yield and trades at a significant discount of over 27% to its last reported net asset value per share. One of the risks includes higher relative non-accruals and significant payment-in-kind income, though they add that PIK is part of their overall strategy.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CION Investment Corporation (NYSE: CION) (“CION”) today announced that it has declared a special distribution for the year ending December 31, 2024 in the amount of $0.05 per share, payable on January 27, 2025 to shareholders of record as of December 30, 2024, which results in total distributions declared in 2024 of $1.52 per share. The special distribution represents a portion of the Company's investment company taxable income generated through the course of the year.

CION Investment offers a high regular dividend yield exceeding 12%, supported by a solid dividend coverage of 124%, despite sensitivity to interest rate changes. The company primarily invests in first-lien debt, ensuring high repayment priority, but has seen a slight increase in non-accruals to 1.8% at fair value. CION's valuation is attractive due to trading at a discount to its Net Asset Value, though this raises concerns about its capital-gathering effectiveness.

CION Investment Corporation is a deeply discounted high yield play. The market is concerned about CION's PIK and portfolio volatility. Looking at the fundamentals, I simply can't rationalize the ~27% discount to NAV.

CION Investment Corporation (NYSE:CION ) Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call November 7, 2024 11:00 AM ET Company Participants Charlie Arestia - Managing Director and Head, Investor Relations Mark Gatto - Co-Chief Executive Officer Gregg Bresner - President and CIO Keith Franz - Chief Financial Officer Conference Call Participants Operator Greetings. And welcome to the CION Investment Corporation's Third Quarter 2024 Conference Call.

CION Investment Corp remains undervalued, trading at a 34% discount to its NAV despite solid fundamentals and solid dividend coverage. The BDC's smaller size and shorter track record may be a contributor to its market mispricing compared to larger, more established peers. CION's portfolio performance has been resilient, with high credit quality and decreasing non-accruals year-over-year, despite higher for longer interest rates.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CION Investment Corporation (NYSE: CION) (the “Company” or “CION”) announced today that it has priced an underwritten public offering of $150.0 million aggregate principal amount of unsecured notes due 2029 (the “Notes”), which will result in net proceeds to the Company of approximately $145.4 million after the payment of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. The Notes will mature on December 30, 2029 and may be.

This is not the right time to take high risk in the BDC space. Yet, as it is often the case, a challenging environment creates opportunities. In this article, I elaborate on two BDCs which indeed have some risks, but not to the extent that is currently priced in by the market.