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

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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 company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.3% in 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 during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 378.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 3,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted 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 valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE TSLX traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.18. 249,098 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 337,409. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 12 month low of $19.50 and a 12 month high of $23.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.33.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $123.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.07 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 38.67%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on TSLX shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.50 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.07.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.