Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Invests $2.92 Million in Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. $OCSL

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 228,990 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,917,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 1,025.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,163 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 3,793 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $97,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oaktree Specialty Lending

In related news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.77 per share, for a total transaction of $26,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,095. This represents a 11.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on OCSL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.50 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.83.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of OCSL opened at $11.77 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.44. Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. has a twelve month low of $10.63 and a twelve month high of $14.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 16.66%.The firm had revenue of $69.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.2%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 280.70%.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: OCSL) is a closed-end, externally managed specialty finance company structured as a business development company (BDC). Launched in 2014, Oaktree Specialty Lending provides customized debt solutions to U.S. middle-market companies, with a focus on senior secured loans, second-lien financings, mezzanine debt and select equity co-investments. The company’s investment strategy centers on floating-rate instruments designed to offer downside protection and income potential in varying interest rate environments.

The firm’s portfolio spans a diverse array of industries, including healthcare, technology, energy, business services and consumer products.