Short Interest in Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Grows By 28.7%

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,134,054 shares, a growth of 28.7% from the January 29th total of 881,302 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 636,518 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 636,518 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGBD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Carlyle Secured Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 1.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 275,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,460,000 after acquiring an additional 5,054 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Carlyle Secured Lending by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 5,599 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Carlyle Secured Lending by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 174,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares in the last quarter. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,000. Finally, Cascade Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $600,000. Institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGBD opened at $11.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $571.77 million, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.21 and a 200-day moving average of $12.61. Carlyle Secured Lending has a 52-week low of $10.87 and a 52-week high of $17.40.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $66.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.26 million. Carlyle Secured Lending had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 8.56%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 156.86%.

Carlyle Secured Lending Company Profile

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ: CGBD) is a closed-end, non-diversified business development company that provides customized debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. Chartered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the company invests primarily in floating-rate senior secured loans, including first-lien, unitranche and one-stop structures. Its objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation through disciplined credit selection and active portfolio management.

The firm focuses on U.S.