SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

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

SLR Investment Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of SLRC opened at $11.15 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.12 and its 200 day moving average is $13.03. The company has a market capitalization of $608.34 million, a PE ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.69. SLR Investment has a 12-month low of $11.14 and a 12-month high of $16.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 35.20%. The company had revenue of $20.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.82 million. Research analysts expect that SLR Investment will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is 91.85%.

Insider Activity at SLR Investment

In other news, insider Michael Gross purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.35 per share, with a total value of $247,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 4,065,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,204,639.55. This represents a 0.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLRC. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in SLR Investment by 1.6% during the second quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,708,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,248,000 after purchasing an additional 75,341 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 7,441.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,629,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,735,000 after buying an additional 1,607,550 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $13,658,000 after buying an additional 219,110 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,516,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 378,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,422,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. 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 closed-end business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately held businesses through senior secured loans, including first-lien and unitranche loans, and may also make subordinated debt and equity investments.

SLR Investment focuses on companies with established operations across a range of industries. Its investment strategy is designed to provide businesses with capital for acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, refinancings and other general corporate purposes.