Short Interest in Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) Drops By 13.8%

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a decline of 13.8% from the May 31st total of 2,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 524,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oaktree Specialty Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Melia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the first quarter worth approximately $13,168,000. Cercano Management LLC acquired a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the first quarter valued at $8,659,000. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 484,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,901,000 after purchasing an additional 249,714 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,626,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,557,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,628,000 after purchasing an additional 142,519 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending stock traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $18.69. 220,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 614,466. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.24 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Oaktree Specialty Lending has a 1-year low of $18.41 and a 1-year high of $21.64. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.09.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $94.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.66 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 12.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oaktree Specialty Lending will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.77%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 164.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OCSL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

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.