Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $16.93 and last traded at $16.9650, with a volume of 719921 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TSLX. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $18.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sixth Street Specialty Lending currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.83.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.07). Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 25.25%.The company had revenue of $93.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is currently 146.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Sixth Street Specialty Lending news, VP Ross Anthony Bruck bought 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.76 per share, with a total value of $142,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 18,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $324,120. This trade represents a 78.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 34.0% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 15,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares in the last quarter. RMR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 27.9% in the first quarter. RMR Capital Management LLC now owns 252,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,647,000 after purchasing an additional 55,090 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the first quarter valued at $156,000. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the first quarter valued at $5,348,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.8% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 246,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 15,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company that provides flexible debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. The fund primarily targets senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, mezzanine debt, second-lien financings and equity co-investment opportunities. By structuring tailored capital solutions, Sixth Street Specialty Lending seeks to support growth initiatives, recapitalizations and refinancings across a diverse set of industries, including technology, healthcare and business services.

As an affiliate of Sixth Street Partners, a global alternative investment firm, the company leverages the broader platform’s credit research, operational expertise and industry relationships.