North Ground Capital Makes New Investment in Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. $CGBD

North Ground Capital purchased a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 476,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,952,000. Carlyle Secured Lending accounts for approximately 3.7% of North Ground Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CGBD. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Carlyle Secured Lending by 71.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 45,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 26,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 174,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGBD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded Carlyle Secured Lending from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Carlyle Secured Lending has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Carlyle Secured Lending news, Director John G. Nestor sold 7,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.87, for a total transaction of $84,098.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,119.96. This trade represents a 48.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

Shares of Carlyle Secured Lending stock opened at $12.86 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $655.35 million, a P/E ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.55 and a 52 week high of $18.64.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.01). Carlyle Secured Lending had a net margin of 30.18% and a return on equity of 9.24%. The company had revenue of $66.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.61 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.4%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s payout ratio is 135.59%.

Carlyle Secured Lending Profile

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ: CGBD) is a closed-end, non-diversified business development company that provides customized debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. Chartered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the company invests primarily in floating-rate senior secured loans, including first-lien, unitranche and one-stop structures. Its objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation through disciplined credit selection and active portfolio management.

The firm focuses on U.S.