Phyllis Caldwell Acquires 2,500 Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Stock

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Director Phyllis Caldwell bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.77 per share, for a total transaction of $26,925.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,095. This trade represents a 11.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of OCSL stock opened at $11.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $991.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.04 and a 200-day moving average of $12.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.63 and a 1-year high of $15.85.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 10.58%.The company had revenue of $74.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 444.44%.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 27,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 12,961 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 1,061.2% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 135,868 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after acquiring an additional 124,167 shares in the last quarter. VARCOV Co. bought a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,020,000. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,637,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,841,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OCSL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.88.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

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.