Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, an increase of 124.1% from the February 28th total of 646,900 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 858,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. B. Riley cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.75.

Institutional Trading of Oaktree Specialty Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter worth $68,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth $93,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares during the period. 36.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

NASDAQ OCSL opened at $15.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.88. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a twelve month low of $14.89 and a twelve month high of $19.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.05.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $86.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 238.81%.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies.