Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $12.50 and last traded at $13.90, with a volume of 1338632 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $12.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.42.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.71. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 238.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCSL. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,129,202 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,534,000 after purchasing an additional 721,629 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,094,609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,006,000 after buying an additional 71,808 shares during the period. Bruni J V & Co. Co. boosted its holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. now owns 1,929,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,483,000 after acquiring an additional 398,241 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp grew its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,495,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $22,846,000 after acquiring an additional 13,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,109,000. 36.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.