Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.8333.

OCSL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Oppenheimer set a $13.00 price target on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 2.0% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 43,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank lifted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Security National Bank now owns 4,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 332,569 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. 36.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ OCSL opened at $11.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.97. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a twelve month low of $10.63 and a twelve month high of $14.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.49.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

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.