Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company cut its price target on SLR Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and maintained an "underweight" rating, implying roughly a 19% downside from the prior close.
• SLR Investment missed quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.33 versus $0.40 expected and revenue of $47.14M versus $54.01M, and the stock fell to $13.60 on heavy trading.
• Analysts are mixed: MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $15.14, while individual targets and ratings range roughly from about $11 to $16.50.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $12.00 to $11.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 19.09% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on SLRC. Compass Point upgraded SLR Investment from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen raised SLR Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 target price on SLR Investment and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.14.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

SLR Investment stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $13.60. 839,684 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 350,487. The firm has a market capitalization of $741.68 million, a PE ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. SLR Investment has a fifty-two week low of $13.41 and a fifty-two week high of $17.19.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $47.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $54.01 million. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 41.81%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SLR Investment will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael S. Gross bought 10,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.90 per share, for a total transaction of $145,282.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,025,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,949,626.70. This trade represents a 0.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLR Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of SLR Investment by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,357,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,990,000 after acquiring an additional 15,264 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of SLR Investment by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,195,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,274,000 after acquiring an additional 74,983 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of SLR Investment by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 577,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,932,000 after acquiring an additional 77,705 shares during the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of SLR Investment by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,261,000 after acquiring an additional 145,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in SLR Investment by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 449,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,946,000 after purchasing an additional 33,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company's stock.

About SLR Investment

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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