Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Stock Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• TSLX shares moved above their 50-day moving average of $18.29, reaching $18.34 during trading, while later trading at $17.58.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: five analysts rate the stock a Buy and three a Hold, with a consensus price target of $19.83. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its target to $19.50 and assigned an Outperform rating.
• Sixth Street Specialty Lending beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $0.43 and revenue of $97.84 million. It also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing a 9.6% annualized yield, though its payout ratio was high at 176.84%.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.29 and traded as high as $18.34. Sixth Street Specialty Lending shares last traded at $17.5770, with a volume of 480,946 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $17.50 to $16.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Zacks Research raised Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sixth Street Specialty Lending presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.83.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.88. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 9.83 and a current ratio of 9.83.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $97.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.28 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 21.79%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's payout ratio is presently 176.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the second quarter worth $7,484,000. Melia Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the second quarter worth $8,350,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the first quarter valued at $2,809,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the second quarter valued at $13,126,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the second quarter valued at $3,017,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.25% of the company's stock.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc NYSE: TSLX is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to established middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately originated debt, including first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien loans, subordinated debt and other credit investments. It may also make select equity investments in connection with its lending activities.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending generally focuses on companies with experienced management teams, strong market positions and established operating histories.

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