SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Hits New 12-Month Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• SLR Investment shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $11.46, below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $12.45 and $13.24, respectively.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $14.10 target price, while JPMorgan lowered its target to $12 and assigned an “Underweight” rating.
• SLR Investment reported quarterly earnings in line with estimates at $0.33 per share but significantly missed revenue expectations. The company maintains an attractive $0.31 quarterly dividend, yielding approximately 10.8%.

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday. The stock traded as low as $11.46 and last traded at $11.4530, with a volume of 255064 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on SLRC shares. B. Riley Financial lowered SLR Investment from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SLR Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of SLR Investment from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $13.50 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of SLR Investment from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.10.

SLR Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $624.17 million, a P/E ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50 day moving average price is $12.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.24.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.33. The firm had revenue of $20.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.82 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 35.20% and a return on equity of 7.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. SLR Investment's dividend payout ratio is 91.85%.

Insider Transactions at SLR Investment

In other news, insider Michael Gross purchased 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.35 per share, for a total transaction of $247,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,065,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,204,639.55. The trade was a 0.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLRC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in SLR Investment during the second quarter worth about $2,513,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,205,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,516,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,256,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in SLR Investment by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,104,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,658,000 after acquiring an additional 219,110 shares during the last quarter. 35.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. NASDAQ: SLRC is a closed-end business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately held businesses through senior secured loans, including first-lien and unitranche loans, and may also make subordinated debt and equity investments.

SLR Investment focuses on companies with established operations across a range of industries. Its investment strategy is designed to provide businesses with capital for acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, refinancings and other general corporate purposes.

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