Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.95, but opened at $15.38. Oaktree Specialty Lending shares last traded at $15.49, with a volume of 343,135 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on OCSL. B. Riley lowered Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities downgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.75.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.21.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Equities analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is currently 305.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,849,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 2.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 21.2% in the third 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. Private Management Group Inc. raised its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 91.5% in the third quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,407,573 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,958,000 after purchasing an additional 672,561 shares during the period. Finally, Rivernorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,598,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.