Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

OCSL has been the subject of several other reports. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Oaktree Specialty Lending has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.83.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of OCSL stock opened at $12.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 0.50. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 52 week low of $10.63 and a 52 week high of $14.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.56 and a 200-day moving average of $12.13.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $69.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.40 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 9.70%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a decrease from Oaktree Specialty Lending’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.00%.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bruni J V & Co. Co. bought a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the second quarter worth about $29,549,160. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,980,000. Melia Wealth LLC bought a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,707,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,195,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,216,000 after acquiring an additional 492,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,988,000. Institutional investors own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: OCSL) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market companies. The company seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing in privately negotiated debt and equity securities, with an emphasis on credit opportunities that may be underserved by traditional lenders.

OCSL primarily invests in first-lien and second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and, to a lesser extent, equity investments. Its portfolio companies operate across a range of industries, and the company generally focuses on established businesses in the United States.