Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Friday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.83.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending stock opened at $12.10 on Friday. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52 week low of $10.63 and a 52 week high of $14.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $69.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.40 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 14.45%. Equities analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This is a decrease from Oaktree Specialty Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCSL. Bruni J V & Co. Co. acquired a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 2nd quarter worth $29,549,160. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,980,000. Melia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,707,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,195,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,216,000 after purchasing an additional 492,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 2nd quarter worth $3,988,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: OCSL) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing in privately negotiated debt and equity securities, with an emphasis on credit opportunities that may be underserved by traditional lenders.

OCSL primarily invests in first-lien and second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and, to a lesser extent, equity investments. Its portfolio companies operate across a range of industries, and the company generally focuses on established businesses in the United States.