SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Hits New 12-Month Low - Should You Sell?

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $14.07 and last traded at $14.18, with a volume of 129985 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $17.25 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SLR Investment has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.85.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $798.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $16.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.32.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. SLR Investment had a net margin of 40.89% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $55.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.08 million. On average, analysts expect that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. SLR Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,372,550 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $70,660,000 after purchasing an additional 33,951 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in SLR Investment by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,368,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,111,000 after buying an additional 31,839 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of SLR Investment by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,044,152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,874,000 after acquiring an additional 44,861 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of SLR Investment by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 382,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,174,000 after acquiring an additional 36,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epiq Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 405.8% in the 1st quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 327,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,523,000 after acquiring an additional 262,800 shares during the period. 35.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.