SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Stock Bumped Up to “Hold” by Wall Street Zen

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

SLRC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of SLR Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut SLR Investment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.10.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLRC opened at $11.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $634.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 0.69. SLR Investment has a 1 year low of $10.96 and a 1 year high of $16.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael Gross purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.35 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in SLR Investment by 7,441.0% in the third 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 raised its stake in SLR Investment by 24.8% in the second 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 position in SLR Investment in the second quarter worth approximately $5,516,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in SLR Investment by 0.4% during the first 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 period. 35.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies, primarily in the United States. The company seeks to support businesses that may have limited access to traditional bank financing by investing in a range of debt and equity securities.

Its investment activities generally focus on senior secured loans, subordinated debt, mezzanine investments and equity interests. SLR Investment typically partners with private equity sponsors and company management teams, providing capital for acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancing, growth initiatives and other corporate purposes.