Legal & General Group Plc Has $7.85 Million Holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. $OCSL

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 616,676 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,827 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending were worth $7,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of OCSL. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 1,025.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,163 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 3,793 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Security National Bank now owns 4,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.50 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.77 per share, with a total value of $26,925.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $253,095. This represents a 11.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Down 2.5%

Oaktree Specialty Lending stock opened at $11.92 on Friday. Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.63 and a 1-year high of $14.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $69.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 280.70%.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.