SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded SLR Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on SLR Investment from $13.50 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. B. Riley Financial cut SLR Investment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded SLR Investment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.10.

SLR Investment Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ SLRC opened at $11.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.31. The company has a market capitalization of $635.08 million, a P/E ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. SLR Investment has a 1 year low of $11.53 and a 1 year high of $16.36.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.33. The firm had revenue of $20.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.82 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 35.20% and a return on equity of 7.96%. On average, equities research analysts predict that SLR Investment will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 91.85%.

Insider Activity at SLR Investment

In other news, insider Michael Gross purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.35 per share, for a total transaction of $247,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,065,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,204,639.55. This represents a 0.49% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SLR Investment by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,708,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,248,000 after acquiring an additional 75,341 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in SLR Investment by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,104,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,658,000 after acquiring an additional 219,110 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in SLR Investment during the second quarter worth about $5,516,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in SLR Investment by 0.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 378,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment during the second quarter worth about $4,205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies, primarily in the United States. The company invests mainly in senior secured loans and other debt instruments, with a focus on businesses that may require flexible capital solutions to support acquisitions, growth, recapitalizations, refinancing, and other corporate initiatives.

SLR Investment may also make subordinated debt and equity investments, including investments alongside its lending activities.