SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold" Rating

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) from a "sell" to a "hold," and MarketBeat's consensus rating for the stock remains Hold with a $15.29 consensus price target.
• Analyst views are mixed—1 Strong Buy, 3 Buy, 2 Hold and 2 Sell—with recent price-target moves ranging roughly $12 to $16.50 (Keefe Bruyette & Woods cut to $15, Wells Fargo to $12, JPMorgan to $14, Compass Point upgraded to Buy at $16.50, Raymond James at $16).
• Michael S. Gross bought 10,452 shares at $13.90 (bringing his total to 4,025,153); insiders own 8.8% and institutions 35.32%, while SLRC trades near $15 with a ~$819M market cap and a 8.83 PE.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on SLRC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on 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. Compass Point upgraded SLR Investment from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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, Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on SLR Investment and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.29.

SLR Investment Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SLRC opened at $15.01 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $14.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.04. The stock has a market cap of $818.95 million, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.69. SLR Investment has a 12 month low of $13.78 and a 12 month high of $17.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in SLR Investment by 45.4% in the third quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 389,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,948,000 after buying an additional 121,432 shares during the last quarter. Triad Investment Management bought a new position in shares of SLR Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,930,000. Epiq Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 11.6% during the third quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 392,790 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,006,000 after purchasing an additional 40,830 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 58.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 330,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,046,000 after purchasing an additional 121,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of SLR Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $632,000. 35.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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