SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

SLRC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Compass Point raised shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on shares of SLR Investment and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Insider Transactions at SLR Investment

In other news, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 25,000 shares of SLR Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.91 per share, with a total value of $347,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 4,014,701 shares in the company, valued at $55,844,490.91. This trade represents a 0.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLRC. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $5,411,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLR Investment by 1,413.2% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 354,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,725,000 after buying an additional 331,260 shares in the last quarter. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,033,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,650,000. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in SLR Investment by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,261,000 after acquiring an additional 145,323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLRC opened at $14.06 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.25. SLR Investment has a 1-year low of $13.64 and a 1-year high of $17.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $767.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.69.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. SLR Investment had a net margin of 42.34% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $54.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.97 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SLR Investment will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.47%.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a closed?end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle?market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co?investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor?backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.