Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.25.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on OCSL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of OCSL stock opened at $15.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.51. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a one year low of $15.56 and a one year high of $21.64.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 17.21%. The firm had revenue of $94.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.35 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 164.18%.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Security National Bank purchased a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the second quarter worth approximately $56,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,735 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $142,000. 36.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.