Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Short Interest Up 124.1% in March

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, an increase of 124.1% from the February 28th total of 646,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 858,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OCSL. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 51.3% in the 4th 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 increased its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 3.5% during the fourth 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. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 398,241 shares during the last quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,495,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,846,000 after purchasing an additional 13,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

OCSL stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.50. The company had a trading volume of 626,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,557. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.88. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 12-month low of $14.89 and a 12-month high of $19.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 company had revenue of $86.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 238.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on OCSL shares. B. Riley lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.75.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

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.