Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Trading Up 2.3% After Dividend Announcement

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) traded up 2.3% during trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $21.64 and last traded at $21.62. 99,344 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 346,587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.14.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is 89.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TSLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $21.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 39.05%. The business had revenue of $119.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sixth Street Specialty Lending

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 25,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 5,398 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 98.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 144,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 71,849 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 572,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,222,000 after acquiring an additional 29,365 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,289,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,117,000 after acquiring an additional 141,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.6% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,279,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,307,000 after purchasing an additional 79,000 shares in the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a business development company. The fund provides senior secured loans (first-lien, second-lien, and unitranche), unsecured loans, mezzanine debt, and investments in corporate bonds and equity securities and structured products, non-control structured equity, and common equity with a focus on co-investments for organic growth, acquisitions, market or product expansion, restructuring initiatives, recapitalizations, and refinancing.