Carlyle Secured Lending Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CGBD)

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 9,000 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 28,025% compared to the typical volume of 32 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carlyle Secured Lending

In other news, CFO Thomas M. Hennigan acquired 7,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.75 per share, with a total value of $100,168.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,216,806.25. The trade was a 8.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John G. Nestor sold 13,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.49, for a total value of $178,580.62. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,859.57. This represents a 47.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 1,011.6% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.50 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in a report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.58.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGBD traded down $0.15 on Monday, hitting $11.83. 129,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 403,890. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.58. Carlyle Secured Lending has a 52-week low of $11.65 and a 52-week high of $18.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $602.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.87.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $66.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.61 million. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 9.24% and a net margin of 30.18%. Equities analysts expect that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Carlyle Secured Lending’s payout ratio is currently 135.59%.

Carlyle Secured Lending Company Profile

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc is business development company specializing in first lien debt, senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loan unsecured debt, mezzanine debt and investments in equities. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. It targets healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, high tech industries, business services, software, beverage food and tobacco, hotel gamming and leisure, banking finance insurance and in real estate sector.