Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.55

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.55 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th.

Oaktree Specialty Lending has raised its dividend payment by an average of 21.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 4 years. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a dividend payout ratio of 96.9% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Oaktree Specialty Lending to earn $2.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.7%.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OCSL traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $19.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 244,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 648,829. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 1.06. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a fifty-two week low of $17.99 and a fifty-two week high of $21.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.95.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $94.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.66 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 12.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oaktree Specialty Lending

In other Oaktree Specialty Lending news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.07 per share, for a total transaction of $40,140.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,166 shares in the company, valued at $224,101.62. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley lowered shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies.