Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

OCSL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.50 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.17.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ OCSL opened at $11.79 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.66. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52-week low of $10.63 and a 52-week high of $14.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $74.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.72 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 9.75%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Oaktree Specialty Lending news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.77 per share, with a total value of $26,925.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $253,095. This represents a 11.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCSL. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 34.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 468,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,201,000 after buying an additional 119,775 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the second quarter worth about $763,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the second quarter worth about $246,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 3.0% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 186,379 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 5,467 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 688.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 11,326 shares during the period. 36.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: OCSL) is a closed-end, externally managed specialty finance company structured as a business development company (BDC). Launched in 2014, Oaktree Specialty Lending provides customized debt solutions to U.S. middle-market companies, with a focus on senior secured loans, second-lien financings, mezzanine debt and select equity co-investments. The company’s investment strategy centers on floating-rate instruments designed to offer downside protection and income potential in varying interest rate environments.

The firm’s portfolio spans a diverse array of industries, including healthcare, technology, energy, business services and consumer products.