SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on SLR Investment and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLR Investment has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.29.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLRC opened at $14.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $796.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.69. SLR Investment has a 1-year low of $13.64 and a 1-year high of $17.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.08.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 42.34%.The firm had revenue of $54.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.97 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that SLR Investment will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at SLR Investment

In other news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 10,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.90 per share, for a total transaction of $145,282.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,025,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,949,626.70. The trade was a 0.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in SLR Investment by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,357,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,990,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in SLR Investment by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,195,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,274,000 after buying an additional 74,983 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in SLR Investment by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 577,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,932,000 after buying an additional 77,705 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,261,000 after buying an additional 145,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 449,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,946,000 after buying an additional 33,185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

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.