Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.8333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TSLX. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th.

Insider Activity at Sixth Street Specialty Lending

In other news, VP Ross Anthony Bruck bought 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.76 per share, for a total transaction of $142,080.00. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Alan Waxman bought 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.18 per share, with a total value of $3,636,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,090,000. This represents a 66.67% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 553,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,139,230 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,478,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,511,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,998,000 after buying an additional 108,708 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 662,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,154,000 after buying an additional 135,789 shares during the period. Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,028,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 18.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,529,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,817,000 after buying an additional 385,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE TSLX opened at $17.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 1 year low of $16.99 and a 1 year high of $25.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.31 and its 200-day moving average is $20.19.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This is a boost from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.00%.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

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.