Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on OCSL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OCSL opened at $12.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.28. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a fifty-two week low of $11.94 and a fifty-two week high of $16.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 34.31 and a beta of 0.52.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $74.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.72 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 10.58%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is presently 444.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCSL. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 74.2% during the second quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 1,888,566 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,798,000 after buying an additional 804,422 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 25.2% in the third quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,014,163 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,335,000 after purchasing an additional 607,493 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 298.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 469,328 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,333,643 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,991,000 after buying an additional 429,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruni J V & Co. Co. increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. now owns 2,487,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,456,000 after buying an additional 274,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: OCSL) is a closed-end, externally managed specialty finance company structured as a business development company (BDC). Launched in 2014, Oaktree Specialty Lending provides customized debt solutions to U.S. middle-market companies, with a focus on senior secured loans, second-lien financings, mezzanine debt and select equity co-investments. The company’s investment strategy centers on floating-rate instruments designed to offer downside protection and income potential in varying interest rate environments.

The firm’s portfolio spans a diverse array of industries, including healthcare, technology, energy, business services and consumer products.