Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Short Interest Up 287.5% in July

Key Points

• Short interest in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE: TSLX) rose by 287.5% in July, totaling 2,870,000 shares, which corresponds to a short-interest ratio of 5.9 days.
• Research analysts have mixed outlooks, with price targets ranging from $21.50 to $24.00 and an average target price of $23.06, while maintaining an average rating of "Buy".
• The company recently announced a $0.46 dividend for shareholders, a significant increase from the previous $0.06 dividend, representing a yield of 770.0%.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,870,000 shares, agrowthof287.5% from the June 30th total of 740,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 485,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days. Based on an average trading volume of 485,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLX. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 108.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 276,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,196,000 after purchasing an additional 144,096 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 448,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,046,000 after purchasing an additional 33,818 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 435,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,749,000 after purchasing an additional 57,962 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter valued at $322,000. Institutional investors own 70.25% of the company's stock.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

Sixth Street Specialty Lending stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $23.57. 114,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 475,628. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.50. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a twelve month low of $18.58 and a twelve month high of $25.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.79, a quick ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.84.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 39.56% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $115.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.42 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Sixth Street Specialty Lending's previous -- dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a yield of 770.0%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSLX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $21.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sixth Street Specialty Lending has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $23.06.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

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.