SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Announces Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.33, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $20.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.82 million. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 41.81%.

SLR Investment Trading Down 4.8%

NASDAQ SLRC traded down $0.63 on Wednesday, reaching $12.55. The company had a trading volume of 285,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,146. SLR Investment has a 52 week low of $12.13 and a 52 week high of $16.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $12.80 and its 200-day moving average is $14.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $684.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 0.64.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.9%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 75.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLRC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on SLR Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $13.50 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of SLR Investment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of SLR Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of SLR Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLR Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.09 per share, for a total transaction of $130,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,035,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,820,152.77. The trade was a 0.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SLR Investment by 173.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 16,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 10,591 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 40,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in SLR Investment by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 42,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 6,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $782,000. 35.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About SLR Investment

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.