Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,415,358 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 137,929 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 1.79% of Oaktree Specialty Lending worth $28,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,626,000. Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the third quarter worth $2,309,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,137,333 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,883,000 after acquiring an additional 66,066 shares in the last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $1,311,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 129,923 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 47,790 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OCSL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. 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 report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, B. Riley lowered Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Phyllis R. Caldwell acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.07 per share, with a total value of $40,140.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,101.62. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending stock opened at $19.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.99 and a fifty-two week high of $21.64. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.06.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $97.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.48 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 28.81% and a return on equity of 12.22%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 145.70%.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.