Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $16.93 and last traded at $16.9650, with a volume of 719921 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TSLX. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $18.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.83.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $93.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.14 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 25.25% and a return on equity of 11.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is currently 146.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Ross Anthony Bruck acquired 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.76 per share, with a total value of $142,080.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president owned 18,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $324,120. This represents a 78.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 673.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company that provides flexible debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. The fund primarily targets senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, mezzanine debt, second-lien financings and equity co-investment opportunities. By structuring tailored capital solutions, Sixth Street Specialty Lending seeks to support growth initiatives, recapitalizations and refinancings across a diverse set of industries, including technology, healthcare and business services.

As an affiliate of Sixth Street Partners, a global alternative investment firm, the company leverages the broader platform’s credit research, operational expertise and industry relationships.