Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Short Interest Up 119.2% in March

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,874,131 shares, an increase of 119.2% from the February 26th total of 1,311,103 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 801,555 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Carlyle Secured Lending Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CGBD stock opened at $11.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $797.98 million, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.70. Carlyle Secured Lending has a 1 year low of $10.61 and a 1 year high of $17.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $66.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.26 million. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 27.38%. Research analysts predict that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Carlyle Secured Lending’s payout ratio is presently 156.86%.

Insider Transactions at Carlyle Secured Lending

In other news, Director John G. Nestor sold 4,401 shares of Carlyle Secured Lending stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $49,687.29. Following the sale, the director owned 5,516 shares in the company, valued at $62,275.64. This trade represents a 44.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 275,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,460,000 after acquiring an additional 5,054 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Carlyle Secured Lending by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 67,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 8,929 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 43.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 68,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 20,710 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management purchased a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending in the 2nd quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Carlyle Secured Lending by 38.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 459,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,291,000 after purchasing an additional 127,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CGBD. Zacks Research upgraded Carlyle Secured Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.20.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ: CGBD) is a closed-end, non-diversified business development company that provides customized debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. Chartered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the company invests primarily in floating-rate senior secured loans, including first-lien, unitranche and one-stop structures. Its objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation through disciplined credit selection and active portfolio management.

The firm focuses on U.S.