Sage Investment Counsel LLC Makes New $559,000 Investment in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 392,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,359,000 after acquiring an additional 26,008 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter worth about $329,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter worth about $392,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TSLX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sixth Street Specialty Lending has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.07.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:TSLX opened at $23.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.50 and a fifty-two week high of $23.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.06.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $123.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.07 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 38.67%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This is a boost from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 6.99%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s payout ratio is presently 90.64%.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Profile

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.