Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) to Issue $0.03 Quarterly Dividend

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.03 per share by the credit services provider on Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th.

Oaktree Specialty Lending has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a dividend payout ratio of 51.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Oaktree Specialty Lending to earn $1.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 87.0%.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

NASDAQ OCSL traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $12.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 935,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,128. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 1-year low of $10.63 and a 1-year high of $14.31.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.02). Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 16.66%.The business had revenue of $69.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.40 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on OCSL. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 target price on Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oaktree Specialty Lending has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $11.83.

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.