Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Shares Up 1.2% After Dividend Announcement

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) shot up 1.2% on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $21.23 and last traded at $21.19. 263,387 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 347,850 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.94.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 7.69%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TSLX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $21.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The firm had revenue of $119.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.85 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 39.05%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 36,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 14,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 17,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management increased its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 6,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barnett & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 29,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

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.