Blue Owl Capital Corporation OBDC reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share (EPS) of 47 cents, which met the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, the bottom line declined from 51 cents a year ago.
The total investment income of Blue Owl Capital amounted to $394.39 million, which decreased 4.1% year over year. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.3%.
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Blue Owl Capital’s fourth-quarter bottom line was supported by lower-than-expected growth in expenses. The positives were partially offset by lower net investment income.
Blue Owl Capital Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Blue Owl Capital Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Blue Owl Capital Corporation Quote
OBDC’s Full-Year 2024 Update
Its 2024 total investment income of $1.6 billion rose 0.9% year over year. However, full-year EPS of $1.89 fell 2.1% from a year ago. Total expenses of $845.1 million grew 3.6% year over year.New investment commitments for 2024 totaled $7.3 billion across 93 new portfolio companies and 68 existing ones.
OBDC’s Q4 Update
Net investment income decreased 7.4% year over year to $184.2 million. However, the metric beat our estimate of $180.7 million. Total new investment commitments were $1.7 billion across 27 new portfolio companies and 17 existing ones.
Blue Owl Capital ended the fourth quarter with investments in 227 portfolio companies, backed with an aggregate fair value of $13.2 billion. Based on the fair value, the average investment size in each portfolio company was $58.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.
Total expenses increased 0.8% from the year-ago period to $209.7 million in the fourth quarter, primarily due to higher interest expenses and management fees. The metric was lower than our estimate of $210.7 million.
The company recorded a net income of $154.9 million in the fourth quarter compared with $189 million a year ago.
Financial Update (as of Dec. 31, 2024)
Blue Owl Capital exited the fourth quarter with a cash balance of $505.7 million, which declined from $658.7 million as of Dec. 31, 2023. Total assets of $13.87 billion rose from $13.51 billion at 2023-end.
Debt was $7.46 billion, up from $7.08 billion at 2023-end. Blue Owl Capital had $2.6 billion of undrawn capacity under its credit facilities. At the fourth-quarter end, net debt to equity was 1.19X.
Net operating cash flow in 2024 was $160.2 million, down from the prior-year figure of $1.14 billion.
Dividend & Repurchase Update
The board of directors at Blue Owl Capital declared a first-quarter 2025 dividend of 37 cents per share, to be paid on or before April 15, 2025, to shareholders of record as of March 31. It also provided a fourth-quarter 2024 supplemental dividend of 5 cents per share.
Blue Owl Capital had the 2024 Stock Repurchase Program (expiring in 18 months from the approval date of May 6, 2024), under which the company may purchase shares up to $150 million. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company did not make share repurchases under this program in 2024.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
How Did Other Finance Stocks Perform?
Here are some other stocks in the broader Finance space that have already reported earnings for this quarter: Capital One COF, Golub Capital BDC, Inc. GBDC and Ares Capital Corporation ARCC.
Capital One’s fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $3.09 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.66 thanks to higher net interest income and non-interest income and a rise in loans and deposits. Also, provisions declined during the quarter. However, the positives were partially offset by increased expenses.
Golub Capital reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS of 39 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.3% and declined sequentially from 47 cents. Over the past four quarters, the company beat consensus EPS estimates just once. Total investment income in first-quarter fiscal 2025 of $220.7 million missed the consensus mark by 2.5%. The figure also fell sequentially from $224.4 million.
Ares Capital’s fourth-quarter 2024 core earnings of 55 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 58 cents due to an increase in expenses. However, an improvement in the total investment income and the company’s robust portfolio activities supported the results to some extent.
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