Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. $OCSL Stake Lessened by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management lessened its holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 148,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 151,637 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 298.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 626,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,556,000 after acquiring an additional 469,328 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,406,670 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,875,000 after purchasing an additional 221,664 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 10.6% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 2,087,981 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,248,000 after purchasing an additional 199,415 shares in the last quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 11.8% during the second quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,700,738 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,232,000 after purchasing an additional 179,563 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 34.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 468,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,201,000 after purchasing an additional 119,775 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Down 1.2%

Oaktree Specialty Lending stock opened at $12.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. has a 1-year low of $11.94 and a 1-year high of $16.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.72 and a beta of 0.52.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 9.75%. The firm had revenue of $74.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 444.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on OCSL. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $13.75.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: OCSL) is a closed-end, externally managed specialty finance company structured as a business development company (BDC). Launched in 2014, Oaktree Specialty Lending provides customized debt solutions to U.S. middle-market companies, with a focus on senior secured loans, second-lien financings, mezzanine debt and select equity co-investments. The company’s investment strategy centers on floating-rate instruments designed to offer downside protection and income potential in varying interest rate environments.

The firm’s portfolio spans a diverse array of industries, including healthcare, technology, energy, business services and consumer products.