Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $21.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TSLX opened at $21.60 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.99. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 1-year low of $19.50 and a 1-year high of $22.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 39.05%. The company had revenue of $119.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.32%.

Institutional Trading of Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 327,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,751,000 after acquiring an additional 72,133 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 7.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 50,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $708,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 11,117 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a business development company. The fund provides senior secured loans (first-lien, second-lien, and unitranche), unsecured loans, mezzanine debt, and investments in corporate bonds and equity securities and structured products, non-control structured equity, and common equity with a focus on co-investments for organic growth, acquisitions, market or product expansion, restructuring initiatives, recapitalizations, and refinancing.