Independent Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. $TSLX

Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 60,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 200,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 8,918 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter worth about $729,000. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter worth about $63,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 177.5% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 27,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 17,428 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 770,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,156,000 after acquiring an additional 29,048 shares during the period. 70.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ross Anthony Bruck acquired 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.76 per share, with a total value of $142,080.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president owned 18,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,120. The trade was a 78.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TSLX. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $18.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.67.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Sixth Street Specialty Lending stock opened at $17.07 on Tuesday. Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.04 and a 1-year high of $24.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.67.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $93.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.14 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 25.25% and a return on equity of 11.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This is a boost from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.8%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.09%.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a closed-end, externally managed business development company that provides flexible debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. The fund primarily targets senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, mezzanine debt, second-lien financings and equity co-investment opportunities. By structuring tailored capital solutions, Sixth Street Specialty Lending seeks to support growth initiatives, recapitalizations and refinancings across a diverse set of industries, including technology, healthcare and business services.

As an affiliate of Sixth Street Partners, a global alternative investment firm, the company leverages the broader platform’s credit research, operational expertise and industry relationships.