SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.1071.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SLRC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (up previously from $12.00) on shares of SLR Investment in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a report on Saturday, September 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLR Investment

In other news, Director Andrea Colvin Roberts bought 7,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.73 per share, with a total value of $120,288.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,288.70. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the first quarter valued at about $637,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 42.8% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 222,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 66,674 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 1,414.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 16,865 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the first quarter valued at about $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Price Performance

Shares of SLR Investment stock opened at $14.95 on Friday. SLR Investment has a 1 year low of $13.64 and a 1 year high of $17.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.15.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.01). SLR Investment had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 39.93%.The business had revenue of $53.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.38 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLR Investment will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.0%. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is presently 101.23%.

About SLR Investment

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.