SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Receives $14.25 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the four research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.25.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLRC opened at $15.13 on Friday. SLR Investment has a 1 year low of $13.48 and a 1 year high of $15.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $825.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.03.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $59.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.00 million. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 33.31%. As a group, research analysts expect that SLR Investment will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.14%.

Insider Activity at SLR Investment

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 46,700 shares of SLR Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.44 per share, with a total value of $721,048.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,735,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,676,490.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Michael S. Gross bought 46,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.44 per share, with a total value of $721,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,735,524 shares in the company, valued at $57,676,490.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael S. Gross bought 22,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.74 per share, for a total transaction of $356,290.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,804,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,888,496.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,336 shares of company stock worth $1,680,539 in the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ares Management LLC raised its position in shares of SLR Investment by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 1,895,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,362,000 after acquiring an additional 306,084 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in SLR Investment by 70.8% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 471,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,803,000 after purchasing an additional 195,228 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in SLR Investment in the first quarter worth approximately $2,821,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,780,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in SLR Investment by 42.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 326,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,781,000 after buying an additional 96,666 shares during the period. 35.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.