Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL)

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 128,175 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 27,229% compared to the average volume of 469 call options.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCSL opened at $13.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.73. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52 week low of $12.44 and a 52 week high of $16.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $76.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.51 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 10.71%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is presently 410.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on OCSL shares. Zacks Research upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,014,163 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,335,000 after acquiring an additional 607,493 shares in the last quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. raised its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 12.4% in the third quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. now owns 2,487,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,456,000 after purchasing an additional 274,667 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 6.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,173,257 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $28,361,000 after purchasing an additional 134,557 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 10.6% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 2,087,981 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,248,000 after purchasing an additional 199,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 11.8% in the second quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,700,738 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,232,000 after buying an additional 179,563 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.