Benjamin Edwards Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 952 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Melia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,144,000. Allen Investment Management LLC raised its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 956.1% in the third quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 340,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,965,000 after purchasing an additional 308,493 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,604,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,667,000 after purchasing an additional 158,746 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,989,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,977,000 after purchasing an additional 148,290 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 534,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,553,000 after purchasing an additional 108,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.50 price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.60.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

TSLX traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $21.01. The company had a trading volume of 469,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,090. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.03. Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.31 and a 1 year high of $22.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 47.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $115.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.19%.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a business development company. The fund provides senior secured loans (first-lien, second-lien, and unitranche), unsecured loans, mezzanine debt, and investments in corporate bonds and equity securities and structured products, non-control structured equity, and common equity with a focus on co-investments for organic growth, acquisitions, market or product expansion, restructuring initiatives, recapitalizations, and refinancing.