Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.67.

OCSL has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. B. Riley downgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd.

Insider Activity at Oaktree Specialty Lending

In related news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.07 per share, with a total value of $40,140.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,166 shares in the company, valued at $224,101.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 375.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,166 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 36.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCSL opened at $19.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.94. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52-week low of $17.99 and a 52-week high of $21.64.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 28.81%. The business had revenue of $97.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.40%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is 145.70%.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies.