Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $11.11 and traded as high as $11.20. Carlyle Secured Lending shares last traded at $11.17, with a volume of 464,531 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGBD has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research cut Carlyle Secured Lending from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $11.00 price objective on Carlyle Secured Lending in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Carlyle Secured Lending from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.25.

Carlyle Secured Lending Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.11. The stock has a market cap of $768.55 million, a PE ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.36. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 8.72% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $63.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.11 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 31st will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 31st. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 264.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lalia Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the second quarter worth approximately $9,765,000. North Ground Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending during the second quarter worth approximately $6,486,480. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Carlyle Secured Lending during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,090,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 33.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,748,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,415,000 after purchasing an additional 436,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 172.7% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 513,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 325,461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Carlyle Secured Lending Company Profile

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ:CGBD) is a business development company that invests in privately held, middle-market companies. Its primary objective is to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by providing financing to businesses that may have limited access to traditional sources of capital.

The company primarily invests in first-lien senior secured loans, while also pursuing opportunities in second-lien loans, subordinated debt and equity investments.