SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial lowered shares of SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded SLR Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of SLR Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $13.50 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of SLR Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SLR Investment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.10.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SLRC stock opened at $13.04 on Tuesday. SLR Investment has a 1-year low of $12.13 and a 1-year high of $16.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $711.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.88.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.33. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 35.20%.The firm had revenue of $20.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.82 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SLR Investment will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is currently 91.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLR Investment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLRC. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in SLR Investment by 1,389.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in SLR Investment in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLR Investment during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors 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.