Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Decreases Stock Position in SLR Investment Corp. $SLRC

Key Points

• Aristotle Capital Boston LLC reduced its SLR Investment Corp. stake by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 92,753 shares and ending with 869,253 shares worth about $13.4 million.
• Insider activity and analyst sentiment were mixed: insider Michael S. Gross bought 10,000 shares, while analysts’ views leaned cautious with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.40.
• SLR Investment missed earnings expectations, reporting $0.33 EPS versus $0.40 expected and revenue of $47.14 million versus $54.01 million forecast; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, implying a 10.0% annualized yield.

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC cut its holdings in SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 869,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 92,753 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC's holdings in SLR Investment were worth $13,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,321 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $179,000. Altrafin AG purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $786,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. 35.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.09 per share, with a total value of $130,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 4,035,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,820,152.77. This represents a 0.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLRC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut SLR Investment from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on SLR Investment from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Compass Point upgraded SLR Investment from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.50 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on SLR Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on SLR Investment and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $14.40.

SLR Investment Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of SLRC stock opened at $12.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.01 and a 200 day moving average of $14.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $673.82 million, a P/E ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.64. SLR Investment Corp. has a twelve month low of $12.32 and a twelve month high of $16.83.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). SLR Investment had a net margin of 41.81% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The business had revenue of $47.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $54.01 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

SLR Investment Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.0%. SLR Investment's payout ratio is 75.61%.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. NASDAQ: SLRC is a closed‐end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle‐market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co‐investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor‐backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.

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