Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $17.58, but opened at $16.98. Sixth Street Specialty Lending shares last traded at $16.7650, with a volume of 17,364 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $17.50 to $16.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.83.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 9.83 and a current ratio of 9.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71 and a beta of 0.62.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 21.79%. The firm had revenue of $97.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is currently 176.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLX. Sage Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Sage Investment Counsel LLC now owns 25,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 44,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners lifted its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 36,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $670,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC boosted its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 549,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,094,000 after buying an additional 2,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately negotiated debt and equity investments, with a focus on supporting businesses that may have limited access to traditional bank financing.

Its investment portfolio generally includes first-lien and second-lien loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt, and related equity investments. Sixth Street Specialty Lending seeks to generate income through interest payments and other investment returns while providing customized financing solutions for acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives, and other corporate purposes.

The company was formed in 2011 and is externally managed by an affiliate of Sixth Street, an investment firm focused on credit and other asset classes.