Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Receives $16.75 Average PT from Analysts

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.75.

Several research firms have issued reports on OCSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target (down from $17.00) on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JMP Securities downgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, B. Riley cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFS Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 601.4% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $106,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCSL opened at $15.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.99. 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 has a twelve month low of $14.89 and a twelve month high of $20.01.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $91.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.02%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 238.81%.

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.