Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.67.

OCSL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, B. Riley cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.07 per share, with a total value of $40,140.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,166 shares in the company, valued at $224,101.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 375.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,166 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

OCSL opened at $19.29 on Wednesday. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52-week low of $17.99 and a 52-week high of $21.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.94.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $97.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.48 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 28.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is 145.70%.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

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.