Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Stock Price

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SLRC. Compass Point increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on SLR Investment from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.65.

SLR Investment Price Performance

Shares of SLRC opened at $15.54 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.35. SLR Investment has a 1-year low of $13.64 and a 1-year high of $17.94. The company has a market cap of $847.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.90.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. SLR Investment had a net margin of 40.89% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $55.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.08 million. On average, research analysts forecast that SLR Investment will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,372,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,660,000 after purchasing an additional 33,951 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,368,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,111,000 after buying an additional 31,839 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of SLR Investment by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,044,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,874,000 after buying an additional 44,861 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in SLR Investment by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 382,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,174,000 after acquiring an additional 36,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epiq Partners LLC grew its position in SLR Investment by 405.8% in the first quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 327,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,523,000 after acquiring an additional 262,800 shares during the last quarter. 35.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLR Investment Company Profile

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.