Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.3750.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on OCSL shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.50 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending stock opened at $12.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.78 and a 200 day moving average of $12.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 0.52. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 1 year low of $10.63 and a 1 year high of $14.77.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $69.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.35 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.9%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is 280.70%.

Insider Transactions at Oaktree Specialty Lending

In other news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.77 per share, with a total value of $26,925.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 23,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,095. This represents a 11.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCSL. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 34.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 468,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,201,000 after buying an additional 119,775 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the second quarter worth about $246,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 3.0% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 186,379 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,546,000 after buying an additional 5,467 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 688.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 11,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 298.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 626,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,556,000 after purchasing an additional 469,328 shares in the last quarter. 36.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: OCSL) is a closed-end, externally managed specialty finance company structured as a business development company (BDC). Launched in 2014, Oaktree Specialty Lending provides customized debt solutions to U.S. middle-market companies, with a focus on senior secured loans, second-lien financings, mezzanine debt and select equity co-investments. The company’s investment strategy centers on floating-rate instruments designed to offer downside protection and income potential in varying interest rate environments.

The firm’s portfolio spans a diverse array of industries, including healthcare, technology, energy, business services and consumer products.