Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Short Interest Update

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, a growth of 124.1% from the February 28th total of 646,900 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 858,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on OCSL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. B. Riley lowered Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.75.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of OCSL stock traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $15.50. The stock had a trading volume of 626,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,557. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 12 month low of $14.89 and a 12 month high of $19.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.88.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The company had revenue of $86.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.93 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 14.75%. The business’s revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is presently 238.81%.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the third quarter worth approximately $242,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $348,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 54,278 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 9,495 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,849,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

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.