Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on CGBD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CGBD. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 275,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,460,000 after acquiring an additional 5,054 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at $146,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 779,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,665,000 after acquiring an additional 121,686 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at $179,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

Shares of CGBD stock opened at $10.64 on Friday. Carlyle Secured Lending has a one year low of $10.50 and a one year high of $14.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $739.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.62.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Carlyle Secured Lending had a net margin of 19.52% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $64.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.78 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 225.35%.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ: CGBD) is a closed-end, non-diversified business development company that provides customized debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. Chartered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the company invests primarily in floating-rate senior secured loans, including first-lien, unitranche and one-stop structures. Its objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation through disciplined credit selection and active portfolio management.

The firm focuses on U.S.