Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

TSLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a report on Wednesday, December 24th.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

Sixth Street Specialty Lending stock opened at $21.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 4.73 and a quick ratio of 4.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.71. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 12 month low of $18.58 and a 12 month high of $25.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.70.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 41.24% and a return on equity of 13.20%. The business had revenue of $109.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert J. Stanley bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.85 per share, with a total value of $208,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 24,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,310.95. This trade represents a 67.08% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 21,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,870 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 6,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 191,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,163,000 after purchasing an additional 9,085 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,616,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,103,000 after purchasing an additional 299,564 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 767,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,670,000 after purchasing an additional 20,763 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.