Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. $TSLX Shares Sold by Ares Management LLC

Key Points

• Ares Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. by 11.8%, selling 183,062 shares, resulting in ownership of approximately 1.37 million shares.
• Wall Street analysts have set a range of price targets for Sixth Street Specialty Lending, with average estimates indicating a target price of $23.28, reflecting positive sentiment with multiple "buy" ratings.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05, with a dividend yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 91.54%, scheduled for payment on September 30.

Ares Management LLC reduced its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,372,689 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 183,062 shares during the quarter. Sixth Street Specialty Lending comprises 1.9% of Ares Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Ares Management LLC owned 1.46% of Sixth Street Specialty Lending worth $30,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TSLX. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 8,526 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 193,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,118,000 after purchasing an additional 11,574 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth $1,035,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 199,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,244,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

Shares of TSLX traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $24.74. 387,645 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 339,397. The company has a quick ratio of 3.79, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.85. Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.58 and a fifty-two week high of $25.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.82.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 39.56%.The business had revenue of $115.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JMP Securities raised their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sixth Street Specialty Lending has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $23.28.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc NYSE: TSLX is a business development company. The fund provides senior secured loans (first-lien, second-lien, and unitranche), unsecured loans, mezzanine debt, and investments in corporate bonds and equity securities and structured products, non-control structured equity, and common equity with a focus on co-investments for organic growth, acquisitions, market or product expansion, restructuring initiatives, recapitalizations, and refinancing.