Brokerages Set SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) PT at $15.85

Shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.85.

Several research firms have issued reports on SLRC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on SLR Investment from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Compass Point upped their price target on SLR Investment from $16.50 to $17.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in SLR Investment by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,336,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,113,000 after purchasing an additional 4,510 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the third quarter valued at $170,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in SLR Investment by 15.0% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,895,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in SLR Investment by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,044,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,874,000 after purchasing an additional 44,861 shares during the period. 35.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLRC opened at $16.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $919.34 million, a PE ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.24. SLR Investment has a 1-year low of $14.41 and a 1-year high of $17.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 40.89%. The firm had revenue of $55.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.08 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SLR Investment will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.71%.

SLR Investment Company Profile

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.