SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell 20.4% in March to 484,904 shares (about 1.0% of the float), implying a days-to-cover of 1.4 based on average daily volume.
• Insider Michael S. Gross purchased 10,452 shares at $13.90 on March 16, raising his holdings to 4,025,153 shares, and corporate insiders now own 8.80% of the company.
• SLR pays a quarterly $0.41 dividend (annualized $1.64) for a 10.3% yield

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 484,904 shares, a decline of 20.4% from the March 15th total of 609,038 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 336,959 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLR Investment

In related news, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 10,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.90 per share, for a total transaction of $145,282.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,025,153 shares in the company, valued at $55,949,626.70. This trade represents a 0.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLRC. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in SLR Investment by 1,389.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in SLR Investment by 215.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in SLR Investment in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SLRC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of SLR Investment in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price objective on shares of SLR Investment and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SLR Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.29.

SLR Investment Price Performance

SLR Investment stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $15.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 272,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,358. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $14.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.05. SLR Investment has a 12 month low of $13.78 and a 12 month high of $17.19. The company has a market capitalization of $872.33 million, a PE ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 0.69.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. SLR Investment had a net margin of 42.34% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm had revenue of $54.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $54.97 million. Analysts anticipate that SLR Investment will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.3%. SLR Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.47%.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. NASDAQ: SLRC is a closed‐end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle‐market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co‐investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor‐backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.

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