B. Riley Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC)

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by equities researchers at B. Riley in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $17.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $16.00. B. Riley’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.00% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on SLR Investment from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLR Investment presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

SLR Investment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLRC traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.19. The company had a trading volume of 157,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,871. SLR Investment has a twelve month low of $13.48 and a twelve month high of $16.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $883.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.09.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. 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 9.36% and a net margin of 33.31%. The firm had revenue of $59.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.00 million. On average, research analysts predict that SLR Investment will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at SLR Investment

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 22,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.74 per share, for a total transaction of $356,290.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,804,860 shares in the company, valued at $59,888,496.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.08 per share, with a total value of $603,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,642,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,923,229.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 22,636 shares of SLR Investment stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.74 per share, for a total transaction of $356,290.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,804,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,888,496.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 109,336 shares of company stock worth $1,680,539 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLR Investment during the 1st quarter valued at $2,821,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,780,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of SLR Investment by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 849,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,394 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the first quarter valued at approximately $809,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $559,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

About SLR Investment

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.