SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $12.17 and last traded at $12.44, with a volume of 288638 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $12.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on SLRC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Compass Point upgraded shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLR Investment has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $14.40.

SLR Investment Stock Up 0.8%

The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $671.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 0.64. 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 (NASDAQ:SLRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $47.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.01 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 41.81% and a return on equity of 8.33%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

SLR Investment Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.1%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.09 per share, with a total value of $130,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 4,035,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,820,152.77. This represents a 0.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLR Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLRC. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in SLR Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,033,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in SLR Investment by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 577,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after buying an additional 77,705 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,261,000 after buying an additional 145,323 shares during the period. Triad Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of SLR Investment during the fourth quarter worth $1,930,000. Finally, Altrafin AG bought a new stake in shares of SLR Investment during the fourth quarter worth $786,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Company Profile

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.