Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from eight covering firms, with five buy ratings and three hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $19.67.
• The company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, posting earnings of $0.42 per share versus the $0.49 estimate and revenue of $93.4 million versus the $103.14 million forecast.
• Sixth Street Specialty Lending recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share, which annualizes to a 10.0% yield.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.6667.

Several brokerages have recently commented on TSLX. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $18.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $17.50 to $16.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sixth Street Specialty Lending

In other news, VP Ross Anthony Bruck purchased 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.76 per share, for a total transaction of $142,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 18,250 shares in the company, valued at $324,120. This trade represents a 78.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLX. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the third quarter worth $75,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $109,000. Institutional investors own 70.25% of the company's stock.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:TSLX opened at $16.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 3.39. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a one year low of $16.04 and a one year high of $24.79. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.10 and a 200-day moving average of $18.55.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $93.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.14 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 25.25% and a return on equity of 11.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is an increase from Sixth Street Specialty Lending's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.0%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's payout ratio is 146.09%.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Inc NYSE: TSLX is a closed-end, externally managed business development company that provides flexible debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. The fund primarily targets senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, mezzanine debt, second-lien financings and equity co-investment opportunities. By structuring tailored capital solutions, Sixth Street Specialty Lending seeks to support growth initiatives, recapitalizations and refinancings across a diverse set of industries, including technology, healthcare and business services.

As an affiliate of Sixth Street Partners, a global alternative investment firm, the company leverages the broader platform’s credit research, operational expertise and industry relationships.

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