SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 176,597 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the previous session’s volume of 158,287 shares.The stock last traded at $16.40 and had previously closed at $16.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $15.50 to $15.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on SLR Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of SLR Investment in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SLR Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.25.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $896.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.36 and a 200 day moving average of $15.71.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $59.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.48 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 40.89% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.66%.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLRC. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in SLR Investment by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 185,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,983,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of SLR Investment by 1.4% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 137,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,220,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in SLR Investment by 5.4% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 225,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,628,000 after acquiring an additional 11,637 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of SLR Investment by 182.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 35,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 55,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.