Short Interest in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Expands By 17.5%

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, an increase of 17.5% from the February 13th total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 372,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

NYSE:TSLX traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $22.30. 38,271 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 336,418. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.31 and its 200-day moving average is $21.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.08. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a twelve month low of $19.50 and a twelve month high of $23.67.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $123.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.07 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a net margin of 38.67% and a return on equity of 13.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.07.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 378.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 3,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

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.