Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Insider Armen Panossian Acquires 8,000 Shares

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) insider Armen Panossian acquired 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.13 per share, for a total transaction of $113,040.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 20,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $293,748.57. The trade was a 62.55% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

OCSL opened at $14.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.30. Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. has a 12-month low of $12.50 and a 12-month high of $19.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.06). Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $70.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.07%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,230.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCSL. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the first quarter valued at $160,000. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 1st quarter worth about $725,000. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter valued at about $174,000. Financial Strategies Group Inc. raised its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 46,352 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 468,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,201,000 after buying an additional 119,775 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on OCSL shares. B. Riley started coverage on Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.83.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies.