SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Receives $15.29 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.2857.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SLRC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Compass Point raised shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised SLR Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th.

SLR Investment Trading Up 0.9%

SLRC opened at $16.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $880.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.69. SLR Investment has a 12 month low of $13.78 and a 12 month high of $17.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.06.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. The company had revenue of $54.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.97 million. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 42.34%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SLR Investment will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is 96.47%.

Insider Transactions at SLR Investment

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.91 per share, for a total transaction of $347,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 4,014,701 shares in the company, valued at $55,844,490.91. This represents a 0.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 8.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in SLR Investment by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,357,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,990,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 6.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,195,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,274,000 after buying an additional 74,983 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 577,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,932,000 after buying an additional 77,705 shares during the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,261,000 after buying an additional 145,323 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 449,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,946,000 after buying an additional 33,185 shares during the period. 35.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a closed‐end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle‐market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co‐investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor‐backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.