Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) Sets New 12-Month High at $16.64

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $16.64 and last traded at $16.53, with a volume of 22405 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CGBD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th.

Carlyle Secured Lending Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.18. The firm has a market cap of $827.37 million, a PE ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 1.59.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 38.19%. The firm had revenue of $62.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Carlyle Secured Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.79%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio is 94.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the 4th quarter worth about $576,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $80,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 119.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 199,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after buying an additional 108,579 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 396,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,933,000 after buying an additional 31,046 shares in the last quarter. 24.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc is business development company specializing in first lien debt, senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loan unsecured debt, mezzanine debt and investments in equities. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. It targets healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, high tech industries, business services, software, beverage food and tobacco, hotel gamming and leisure, banking finance insurance and in real estate sector.