Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research note on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oaktree Specialty Lending has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.00.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OCSL opened at $12.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.90. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.66. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52 week low of $12.44 and a 52 week high of $16.66.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $75.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.14 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 13.84%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 285.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCSL. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 74.2% in the second quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 1,888,566 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,798,000 after acquiring an additional 804,422 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 298.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 626,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,556,000 after acquiring an additional 469,328 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 651.4% in the first quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC now owns 319,275 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 276,782 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 1,321.9% in the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 275,060 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after buying an additional 255,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wills Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the first quarter valued at about $3,561,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

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.