Essex Financial Services Inc. Increases Position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Free Report) by 115.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,065 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,488,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 382.4% during the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 446,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,003,000 after buying an additional 354,320 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,156,000. Parkwood LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,937,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 108.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 276,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,196,000 after acquiring an additional 144,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TSLX shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $21.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.81.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Trading Up 1.7%

TSLX traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $24.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 326,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,805. Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.58 and a fifty-two week high of $24.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50-day moving average is $22.54 and its 200-day moving average is $21.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 3.06.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $113.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.70 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 36.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities 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 Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a yield of 9.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.35%.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Profile

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.