Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. $OCSL

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (OCSL) by 34.1%, now holding approximately 170,591 shares valued at $2,620,000.
• Analysts have recently downgraded the stock from a "hold" to a "sell" rating, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowering its price target from $15.00 to $14.00.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 11.7%, with a payout ratio of 285.71%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ:OCSL - Free Report) by 34.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 170,591 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 88,262 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Oaktree Specialty Lending worth $2,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the first quarter worth approximately $381,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,910 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 20.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,176 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 4,589 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 49.4% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 159,341 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,447,000 after buying an additional 52,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wills Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the first quarter worth $3,561,000. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OCSL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.00.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

Oaktree Specialty Lending stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.75. 302,867 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 624,354. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $13.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. has a 12-month low of $12.50 and a 12-month high of $17.16.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $75.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.14 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.6%. Oaktree Specialty Lending's dividend payout ratio is presently 285.71%.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies.