Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Receives $19.83 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.8333.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TSLX. Weiss Ratings raised Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $17.50 to $16.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Down 1.6%

Sixth Street Specialty Lending stock opened at $17.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 9.83, a quick ratio of 9.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 1-year low of $16.04 and a 1-year high of $23.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85 and a beta of 0.61.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 21.79% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The firm had revenue of $97.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.4%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.84%.

Institutional Trading of Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter worth $273,434,000. Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 101.8% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 4,347,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,911,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,551 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,571,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,562,000 after purchasing an additional 59,937 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,366,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,629,000 after purchasing an additional 519,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 318.2% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,961,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492,704 shares during the period. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc (NYSE:TSLX) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately negotiated loans and other debt investments, seeking to support businesses that may have limited access to traditional bank financing or public capital markets.

Its investment portfolio generally includes first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, mezzanine debt and, to a lesser extent, equity investments.