Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.80.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. B. Riley cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending stock opened at $19.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.01. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 12 month low of $17.99 and a 12 month high of $21.64.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $97.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.48 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 28.81% and a return on equity of 12.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 145.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.07 per share, for a total transaction of $40,140.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,101.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OCSL. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 2.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,863 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 115.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 99,623 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 53,343 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 45.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,571 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 29.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 100,992 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 23,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 17.2% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 57,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies.