New York, May 28, 2026, 10:04 EDT
- GECC was last trading at $6.03, up 3 cents, with 3,578 shares changing hands early.
- Nasdaq is planning to suspend trading in Great Elm’s 5.875% notes due 2026 on May 28, following the scheduled redemption, according to .
- The balance sheet shuffle is putting attention on net asset value, or NAV, which tracks a fund’s assets per share after subtracting liabilities.
Great Elm Capital Corp. shares ticked up Thursday in a thin session, after Nasdaq suspended trading in the company’s 5.875% notes due 2026. The notes were redeemed as planned, dropping a near-term debt piece from the business development company’s balance sheet.
The stock last traded at $6.03, up 3 cents on the day, leaving the company with a market cap near $84.3 million, per market data. The uptick wasn’t big, but timing was key: Nasdaq announced that trading in the GECCO notes would be halted starting May 28, right after the planned May 27 redemption. Holders are set to get $25 in cash plus $0.228472 interest per note.
Great Elm, a business development company, said in an April filing it would redeem all GECCO notes at 100% of principal and any accrued but unpaid interest up to, but not including, the redemption date. The firm invests in and lends to smaller and mid-sized businesses as a BDC.
The trade here isn’t tied to new earnings news. It’s about cleaning up the balance sheet. In a May investor deck, Great Elm stated it redeemed or bought back all $57.5 million of the 2026 GECCO notes, including $18.6 million redeemed on May 27. No more funded debt matures before 2029.
Chief Executive Jason Reese put the reset simply: GECC’s plan is to “protect and grow NAV first,” he said on the company’s first-quarter call. Reese told investors there was “meaningful progress,” but marks on certain investments did dent the fund’s book value this quarter. Investing
Great Elm Capital Corp. reported mixed results for the first quarter. Total investment income dropped to $9.5 million from $12.6 million in the previous quarter. Net investment income, or NII, increased to $5.0 million, or 36 cents per share, thanks to an incentive-fee waiver. Net asset value, or NAV, slipped to $7.74 a share from $8.07.
GECC’s stock sits at $6.03, still trading well under its March 31 NAV. That keeps buybacks in focus. The company said it had bought about 0.1 million shares for $0.5 million through May 1, paying an average of $4.98. About $9.5 million remains on the $10 million repurchase plan.
Dividend is still front and center. Great Elm’s board set a 25-cent cash payout for the second quarter, with holders on June 15 set to get paid June 30. The board said this works out to an 18.0% annualized yield based on the May 1 close at $5.56.
Shares of other BDCs edged higher in early trading Thursday. Ares Capital was up 2 cents at $18.88. Prospect Capital picked up 5 cents to $2.39. Gladstone Capital gained 10 cents, trading at $19.45. The VanEck BDC Income ETF rose 2 cents to $12.59.
Stocks didn’t find a clear trend. Wall Street’s main indexes started the day almost unchanged as traders sorted through new inflation numbers and ongoing geopolitical risks, according to Reuters. That matters for BDCs, since shifts in funding costs, credit spreads, and borrower stress feed straight into their portfolio values.
The risk is still there. Great Elm said unrealized losses tied to mark-to-market moves were the main reason net assets fell. CLOs—bundles of corporate loans with leverage—can swing in value. If credit marks get worse, fee waivers stop, or CLO cash flows disappoint, the dividend and NAV rebuild plan could hit tougher times.
