Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on OCSL. Weiss Ratings downgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Lucid Cap Mkts raised Oaktree Specialty Lending to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oaktree Specialty Lending currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $13.75.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ OCSL opened at $11.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $998.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 12 month low of $11.29 and a 12 month high of $16.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.18.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $74.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.72 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 9.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 444.44%.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 25.2% in the third quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,014,163 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,335,000 after purchasing an additional 607,493 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 298.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 626,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,556,000 after purchasing an additional 469,328 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,333,643 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,991,000 after purchasing an additional 429,303 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,841,000. Finally, Bruni J V & Co. Co. grew its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. now owns 2,487,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,456,000 after buying an additional 274,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.