Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Short Interest Up 28.7% in February

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,134,054 shares, an increase of 28.7% from the January 29th total of 881,302 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 636,518 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 636,518 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the 2nd quarter worth about $20,529,000. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Carlyle Secured Lending by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC now owns 1,900,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,740,000 after purchasing an additional 699,586 shares during the last quarter. Cliffwater LLC purchased a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,505,000. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending in the fourth quarter worth about $6,245,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 199.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 727,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 484,581 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGBD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Carlyle Secured Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Carlyle Secured Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on Carlyle Secured Lending in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carlyle Secured Lending currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.60.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

Shares of CGBD stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $11.21. 165,746 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 593,335. Carlyle Secured Lending has a 12-month low of $10.87 and a 12-month high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $571.26 million, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.62.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). Carlyle Secured Lending had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The firm had revenue of $66.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.26 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.3%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 156.86%.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ: CGBD) is a closed-end, non-diversified business development company that provides customized debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. Chartered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the company invests primarily in floating-rate senior secured loans, including first-lien, unitranche and one-stop structures. Its objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation through disciplined credit selection and active portfolio management.

The firm focuses on U.S.