SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SLRC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on shares of SLR Investment and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Compass Point raised SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th.

SLR Investment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLRC opened at $14.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $767.11 million, a PE ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.69. SLR Investment has a fifty-two week low of $13.64 and a fifty-two week high of $17.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. SLR Investment had a net margin of 42.34% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $54.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.97 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SLR Investment will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 96.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 10,452 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.90 per share, with a total value of $145,282.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,025,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,949,626.70. This trade represents a 0.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,357,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,990,000 after buying an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in SLR Investment by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,195,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,274,000 after acquiring an additional 74,983 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in SLR Investment by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 577,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after acquiring an additional 77,705 shares during the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its position in SLR Investment by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,261,000 after acquiring an additional 145,323 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in SLR Investment by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 449,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,946,000 after acquiring an additional 33,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a closed‐end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle‐market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co‐investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor‐backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.