SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $12.53 and last traded at $12.6340, with a volume of 63640 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on SLRC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SLR Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price objective on shares of SLR Investment and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $14.40.

SLR Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $696.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.77.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). SLR Investment had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 41.81%.The company had revenue of $47.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.01 million. On average, research analysts forecast that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLR Investment

In related news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.09 per share, with a total value of $130,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,035,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,820,152.77. This represents a 0.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth $4,033,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in SLR Investment by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 577,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,932,000 after purchasing an additional 77,705 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in SLR Investment by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 145,323 shares during the period. Triad Investment Management acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth $1,930,000. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth $632,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

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.