Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in SLR Investment were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 6.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 768,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,827,000 after purchasing an additional 46,760 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in SLR Investment by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 112,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,689,000 after buying an additional 32,647 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 51,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 24,146 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its position in SLR Investment by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 75,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 21,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment during the 3rd quarter worth $193,000. 35.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at SLR Investment

In related news, insider Michael S. Gross acquired 22,636 shares of SLR Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.74 per share, for a total transaction of $356,290.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,804,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,888,496.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Michael S. Gross bought 22,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.74 per share, with a total value of $356,290.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,804,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,888,496.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 46,700 shares of SLR Investment stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.44 per share, with a total value of $721,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,735,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,676,490.56. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,336 shares of company stock valued at $1,680,539 in the last ninety days. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLRC has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 29th. B. Riley upped their price objective on SLR Investment from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.25.

SLR Investment Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of SLR Investment stock opened at $15.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $840.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.11. SLR Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $13.48 and a 52-week high of $15.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.04.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 33.31%. The company had revenue of $59.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.64%. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is currently 117.14%.

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.