Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Stock Now Rated "Reduce" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a “Reduce” consensus on Oaktree Specialty Lending: one analyst recommends selling and seven rate it a hold. The average 12-month price target is $11.83, below the reported share price of $12.14.
• The company cut its quarterly dividend from $0.30 to $0.03 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.12 and a 1.0% yield.
• Institutional investors own 36.79% of OCSL, with several firms establishing or increasing positions during the second quarter. In its latest quarter, the company reported EPS of $0.37, slightly above the $0.36 analyst consensus.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.83.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Oaktree Specialty Lending from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. B. Riley Financial reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Monday, October 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Monday, October 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruni J V & Co. Co. bought a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 2nd quarter worth $29,549,160. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the second quarter worth $8,980,000. Melia Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the second quarter valued at $8,707,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 28.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,195,651 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,216,000 after purchasing an additional 492,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the second quarter valued at $3,988,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.79% of the company's stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:OCSL opened at $12.14 on Friday. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 1 year low of $10.63 and a 1 year high of $14.05. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The stock's 50-day moving average is $12.23 and its 200 day moving average is $12.08.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $69.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.40 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This is a decrease from Oaktree Specialty Lending's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Oaktree Specialty Lending's payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation NASDAQ: OCSL is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately held businesses through senior secured loans, including first-lien and unitranche loans, and may also make subordinated debt and equity investments.

OCSL seeks to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by partnering with companies across a range of industries. Its investments generally support acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives and other corporate purposes.

The company is externally managed by Oaktree Capital Management, a global investment management firm.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.