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

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment on Sixth Street Specialty Lending is mixed but leans positive, with eight brokerages giving it an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 1-year price target of about $19.83.
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share, or $1.68 annualized, which implies a 9.5% yield; however, the payout ratio is high at 146.09%.
• Sixth Street Specialty Lending recently missed earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.42 EPS versus $0.49 expected and $93.4 million in revenue versus $103.14 million expected.

Shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.8333.

TSLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $18.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Ross Anthony Bruck acquired 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.76 per share, with a total value of $142,080.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 18,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $324,120. This trade represents a 78.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Alan Waxman acquired 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.47 per share, for a total transaction of $831,150.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 545,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,066,150. This represents a 9.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 253,000 shares of company stock worth $4,609,230 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.83% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 673.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter worth about $63,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter worth about $108,000. Institutional investors own 70.25% of the company's stock.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

NYSE TSLX opened at $17.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 3.39 and a current ratio of 3.39. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a fifty-two week low of $16.96 and a fifty-two week high of $25.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $18.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.74.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 25.25%.The business had revenue of $93.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.5%. This is an increase from Sixth Street Specialty Lending's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's payout ratio is currently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.