Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Price Target to $16.00

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $15.50 to $16.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential downside of 1.30% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on SLR Investment from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (up from $16.00) on shares of SLR Investment in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SLR Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.80.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLRC opened at $16.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $884.42 million, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.21. SLR Investment has a 1-year low of $13.75 and a 1-year high of $16.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 41.66%. The firm had revenue of $59.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SLR Investment will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross bought 22,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.74 per share, for a total transaction of $356,290.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,804,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,888,496.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 22,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.74 per share, for a total transaction of $356,290.64. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,804,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,888,496.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.08 per share, for a total transaction of $603,200.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,642,124 shares in the company, valued at $54,923,229.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 109,336 shares of company stock worth $1,680,539. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLRC. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 8.0% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 918,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,094,000 after purchasing an additional 68,320 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in SLR Investment by 1.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 689,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,605,000 after acquiring an additional 12,119 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the first quarter valued at $2,821,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $1,780,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in SLR Investment by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 112,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 32,647 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

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.