SLR Investment Corp. $SLRC Shares Bought by Muzinich & Co. Inc.

Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its position in SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 145,323 shares during the period. SLR Investment makes up 2.6% of Muzinich & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Muzinich & Co. Inc.’s holdings in SLR Investment were worth $8,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,342,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,526,000 after acquiring an additional 11,052 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,195,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,274,000 after acquiring an additional 74,983 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 500,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 91,622 shares during the period. Epiq Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 417,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,449,000 after acquiring an additional 24,338 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 416,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,362,000 after acquiring an additional 61,404 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SLRC opened at $14.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.06. SLR Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $13.64 and a 52-week high of $17.19. The company has a market capitalization of $799.30 million, a PE ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.69.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. SLR Investment had a net margin of 42.34% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm had revenue of $54.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.97 million. Equities research analysts predict that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.91 per share, for a total transaction of $347,750.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,014,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,844,490.91. The trade was a 0.63% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SLRC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SLR Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on shares of SLR Investment and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.29.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a closed‐end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle‐market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co‐investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor‐backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.