SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.65.

SLRC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SLR Investment from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $17.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLRC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in SLR Investment by 1,642.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 3,203 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in SLR Investment by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 7,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,082 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in SLR Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $191,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,551 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SLRC opened at $15.68 on Wednesday. SLR Investment has a twelve month low of $13.64 and a twelve month high of $17.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.36. The firm has a market cap of $855.50 million, a P/E ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.90.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $55.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.08 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 40.89% and a return on equity of 9.73%. On average, analysts forecast that SLR Investment will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.71%.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.