SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Compass Point raised shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on SLR Investment and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.29.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SLR Investment stock opened at $14.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $796.58 million, a PE ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.08. SLR Investment has a one year low of $13.64 and a one year high of $17.19.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. SLR Investment had a net margin of 42.34% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The business had revenue of $54.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.97 million. Research analysts expect that SLR Investment will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.2%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.91 per share, with a total value of $347,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 4,014,701 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,844,490.91. This represents a 0.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in SLR Investment by 1,389.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 215.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 35.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a closed‐end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle‐market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co‐investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor‐backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.