Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Short Interest Update

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, a growth of 17.5% from the February 13th total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 372,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 355,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,297,000 after buying an additional 40,330 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 106.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 51,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 26,349 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 175,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 15,766 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter worth $987,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 117,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

TSLX opened at $22.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.34 and a 200-day moving average of $21.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 52-week low of $19.50 and a 52-week high of $23.67. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.08.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $123.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.07 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 38.67% and a return on equity of 13.47%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a yield of 6.99%. This is a boost from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is 90.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on TSLX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.50 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.07.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.