Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.75.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley downgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JMP Securities cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Management Group Inc. grew its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,129,202 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,534,000 after buying an additional 721,629 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,094,609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,006,000 after acquiring an additional 71,808 shares during the last quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. raised its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. now owns 1,929,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,483,000 after purchasing an additional 398,241 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,495,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $22,846,000 after purchasing an additional 13,949 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter valued at $18,109,000. Institutional investors own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

OCSL opened at $15.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.98. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a fifty-two week low of $14.89 and a fifty-two week high of $20.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 1.05.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $86.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.17%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 238.81%.

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.