Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Given New $17.50 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut its price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending to $17.50 and kept a "neutral" rating, and several other brokers trimmed targets this week, reducing near‑term upside and signaling downside risk to the stock.
• Q1 results missed expectations — EPS $0.42 vs. $0.49 consensus and revenue $93.4M vs. $103.1M — which, along with analyst notes about worsening credit quality, has driven selling pressure.
• The company declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~9.4%), and insiders and institutions have been buying shares (VP Alan Waxman bought 45,000 shares; large hedge fund inflows), indicating some investor support despite the headwinds.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $18.50 to $17.50 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the financial services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential downside of 2.15% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sixth Street Specialty Lending currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.29.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

NYSE TSLX traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $17.89. 851,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 929,485. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 1 year low of $16.99 and a 1 year high of $25.17. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $18.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 0.65.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $93.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $103.14 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 25.25%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sixth Street Specialty Lending

In other news, VP Alan Waxman bought 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.47 per share, with a total value of $831,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president directly owned 545,000 shares in the company, valued at $10,066,150. This represents a 9.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 545,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,997,150. Insiders own 3.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 1st quarter worth about $273,434,000. Strs Ohio grew its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 101.8% in the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 4,347,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $79,911,000 after buying an additional 2,193,551 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 419.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,284,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,628,000 after buying an additional 1,845,088 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,529,187 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $57,817,000 after buying an additional 385,398 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 624,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,558,000 after buying an additional 319,665 shares during the period. 70.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Sixth Street Specialty Lending News

Here are the key news stories impacting Sixth Street Specialty Lending this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share (annualized yield ~9.4%), payable June 30; that cash return was highlighted in the company release and media coverage. Business Wire: Dividend & Q1 Release MSN: Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Company provided Q1 presentation and earnings-call transcript (useful for detail on portfolio and cash flows for investors doing due diligence). Earnings Call Transcript Slide Deck
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 results missed expectations: EPS $0.42 vs. $0.49 consensus and revenue $93.4M vs. $103.1M, with earnings down versus prior year — a clear driver of selling pressure. MarketBeat: Q1 Results Zacks: Earnings Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst notes and research highlighted credit-quality deterioration and coverage concerns (articles flagged a rise in worst-performing assets and pressure on interest revenue), amplifying downside risk. Seeking Alpha: Credit/Dividend Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple brokers trimmed price targets today (RBC $22→$20, Keefe Bruyette & Woods $21→$18.50, Truist $22→$20, Wells Fargo $20→$19) — all kept buy/outperform ratings but the lower targets reflect reduced near-term upside and likely contributed to selling. Benzinga: Analyst Notes TickerReport: Truist Note

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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