Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Shares Cross Below 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX)’s share price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $17.84 and traded as low as $16.90. Sixth Street Specialty Lending shares last traded at $17.0480, with a volume of 882,745 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $17.50 to $16.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sixth Street Specialty Lending currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.83.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.18 and a 200-day moving average of $17.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 9.83 and a current ratio of 9.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 0.62.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 21.79%. The company had revenue of $97.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.28 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is 176.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLX. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 320,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,778,000 after buying an additional 15,067 shares during the last quarter. Miller Global Investments LLC raised its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 265.4% during the 3rd quarter. Miller Global Investments LLC now owns 37,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 27,509 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 216,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,896,000 after buying an additional 4,240 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ehrenkranz Partners L.P. now owns 43,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares during the period. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc (NYSE:TSLX) is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to established middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately originated debt, including first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt and other credit investments. It may also make select equity investments in connection with its lending activities.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending generally focuses on companies with experienced management teams, strong market positions and established operating histories.