Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $4.57 Million in SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 282,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of SLR Investment as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLRC. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in SLR Investment by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in SLR Investment by 0.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,336,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,113,000 after buying an additional 4,510 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in SLR Investment by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 155,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,516,000 after buying an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter worth about $3,895,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 7,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,082 shares in the last quarter. 35.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLR Investment Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:SLRC traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 37,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,554. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. SLR Investment Corp. has a 1 year low of $13.64 and a 1 year high of $17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $846.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.90.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 40.89%. The company had revenue of $55.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.08 million. Research analysts expect that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. SLR Investment's dividend payout ratio is 93.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Compass Point upped their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $17.25 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLR Investment currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.65.

SLR Investment Profile

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.