SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.85.

SLRC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on SLR Investment from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $17.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

SLR Investment stock opened at $15.21 on Friday. SLR Investment has a 12-month low of $14.41 and a 12-month high of $17.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $829.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $55.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.08 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 40.89% and a return on equity of 9.73%. On average, research analysts anticipate that SLR Investment will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.78%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 93.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in SLR Investment by 0.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,022 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $3,895,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,044,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,874,000 after buying an additional 44,861 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,902,000. Institutional investors 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.