Confluence Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. $TSLX

Key Points

• Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. by 14.6% in Q2, acquiring an additional 36,650 shares, bringing its total to 288,066 shares valued at approximately $6.86 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Sixth Street Specialty Lending, with several firms raising their target price to between $24.00 and $25.00, and an average rating of "Buy."
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05, which reflects an annualized dividend yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 91.54%.

Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Free Report) by 14.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,066 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 36,650 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned 0.31% of Sixth Street Specialty Lending worth $6,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 108.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 276,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,196,000 after buying an additional 144,096 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 448,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,046,000 after purchasing an additional 33,818 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 435,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,749,000 after purchasing an additional 57,962 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $322,000. 70.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

Shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.43. 137,581 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 456,911. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.85. Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.58 and a 1 year high of $25.17.

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

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's dividend payout ratio is currently 91.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price 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.