Wall Street Zen Upgrades Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) from a "sell" to a "hold," while analyst sentiment remains mixed with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.94 after several firms trimmed targets.
• The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing estimates by $0.20 despite revenue of $108.25 million roughly in line with expectations, and EPS is down from $0.61 a year earlier.
• Insiders have been active buyers—VP Alan Waxman bought 45,000 shares and insiders purchased a total of 545,000 shares in the last three months—leaving insiders with about 3.22% ownership.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

TSLX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.94.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

NYSE:TSLX opened at $18.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.66. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 1 year low of $16.99 and a 1 year high of $25.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $19.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.95.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.20). Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 37.99%.The firm had revenue of $108.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.19 EPS 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 acquired at an average cost of $18.47 per share, with a total value of $831,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought a total of 545,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,997,150 in the last three months. 3.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at $1,478,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 662,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,154,000 after purchasing an additional 135,789 shares during the period. Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the third quarter worth $1,028,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the third quarter worth $12,777,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 110.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 135,502 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,098,000 after buying an additional 71,126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.25% of the company's stock.

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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