SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Shares Gap Down to $15.60

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $15.60, but opened at $15.27. SLR Investment shares last traded at $15.30, with a volume of 70,509 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $15.50 to $15.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of SLR Investment in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLR Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.25.

SLR Investment Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $839.68 million, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $58.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.23 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 9.65%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is 92.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Robyn Tannenbaum bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.05 per share, for a total transaction of $33,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the president now directly owns 24,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $275,796.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other SLR Investment news, President Robyn Tannenbaum purchased 3,000 shares of SLR Investment stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.05 per share, with a total value of $33,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 24,959 shares in the company, valued at approximately $275,796.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Leonard M. Tannenbaum acquired 56,584 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.80 per share, with a total value of $724,275.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 184,803 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,478.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 70,584 shares of company stock worth $855,625 in the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in SLR Investment by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 918,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,094,000 after purchasing an additional 68,320 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLR Investment during the first quarter valued at $2,821,000. Condor Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,118,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in SLR Investment by 182.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 35,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter worth $310,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.