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

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

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lowered Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their target price 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.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the second quarter valued at about $56,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 37.0% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,735 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter valued at about $197,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 1st quarter worth approximately $210,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

OCSL opened at $16.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $16.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.20. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52-week low of $15.56 and a 52-week high of $21.64.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $94.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.35 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.41%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 164.18%.

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.