SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 343,200 shares, an increase of 60.9% from the February 28th total of 213,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 176,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLR Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of SLR Investment by 1,642.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 3,203 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in SLR Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the third quarter worth about $90,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in SLR Investment by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 7,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 3,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in SLR Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $191,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

SLR Investment Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ SLRC traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $16.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 105,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,707. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. SLR Investment has a 52-week low of $14.41 and a 52-week high of $17.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $919.61 million, a P/E ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.13.

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

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SLRC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on SLR Investment from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $16.50 to $17.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.85.

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.