Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Given New $18.50 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut its price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending to $18.50 (from $21) but kept an "outperform" rating; the stock's consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $20.43 after multiple recent target trims.
• Q1 results missed expectations—reported EPS $0.42 vs. $0.49 expected and revenue of $93.4M vs. ~$103M—which has pressured the stock, now trading around $17.81 near its 52‑week low.
• The board declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend (≈9.4% annualized) and insiders bought shares (VP Alan Waxman purchased 45,000 shares, with insiders acquiring 545,000 shares last quarter), supporting income demand and signaling insider confidence.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $21.00 to $18.50 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.89% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.43.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Trading Down 0.6%

TSLX stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $17.81. The company had a trading volume of 582,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,217. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 52 week low of $16.99 and a 52 week high of $25.17. The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.35 and a 200 day moving average of $20.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sixth Street Specialty Lending

In other Sixth Street Specialty Lending news, VP Alan Waxman acquired 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.47 per share, with a total value of $831,150.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 545,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,066,150. The trade was a 9.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 545,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,997,150. 3.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLX. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 673.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the first quarter worth about $63,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the third quarter worth about $75,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the third quarter worth about $98,000. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Sixth Street Specialty Lending News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts kept constructive ratings despite trimming targets — Truist cut its price target to $20 (still a "Buy," ~12% upside vs. current price). Truist lowers TSLX price target to $20
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowered its price target to $19 but maintained an "Overweight" rating, signaling continued analyst conviction that shares have upside. Wells Fargo trims TSLX target to $19
• Positive Sentiment: Board declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~9.4% based on recent price), which supports income-oriented demand for the stock. TSLX declares $0.42 quarterly dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released Q1 materials and held an earnings call — slide deck and transcript are available for investors who want details on portfolio composition and management commentary. Q1 2026 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 results missed expectations: EPS $0.42 vs. consensus $0.49 and revenue $93.4M vs. ~$103M expected — the miss is a clear near-term driver of downside. TSLX Q1 earnings and revenue miss
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage from Seeking Alpha flagged sharper deterioration: interest revenue down >19% YoY, rising levels of lower‑rated assets and a meaningful increase in worst-performing positions — that analysis and the reaction to the dividend announcement have driven selling pressure. Analysis: portfolio stress and revenue decline

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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