SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the four research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.25.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLRC. B. Riley raised their target price on SLR Investment from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on SLR Investment from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Transactions at SLR Investment

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,306,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,686,000 after buying an additional 25,304 shares during the period. Ares Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $34,362,000 after buying an additional 306,084 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 849,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,774,000 after buying an additional 81,394 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of SLR Investment by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 689,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,605,000 after acquiring an additional 12,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of SLR Investment by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 471,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,803,000 after acquiring an additional 195,228 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of SLRC opened at $14.98 on Friday. SLR Investment has a 52-week low of $13.48 and a 52-week high of $15.86. The company has a market capitalization of $817.31 million, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.14%.

SLR Investment Company Profile

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.