Raymond James & Associates Buys 58,841 Shares of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD)

Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) by 80.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 131,643 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,841 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Carlyle Secured Lending were worth $1,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 161.2% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the first quarter worth approximately $118,000. One Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the third quarter worth approximately $145,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the first quarter worth approximately $138,000. 24.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of CGBD opened at $16.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $832.45 million, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.12 and a 1 year high of $16.64.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 38.19%. The firm had revenue of $62.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.71%. This is a boost from Carlyle Secured Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.67%.

Carlyle Secured Lending Profile

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc is business development company specializing in first lien debt, senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loan unsecured debt, mezzanine debt and investments in equities. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. It targets healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, high tech industries, business services, software, beverage food and tobacco, hotel gamming and leisure, banking finance insurance and in real estate sector.