Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Carlyle Secured Lending in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised Carlyle Secured Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Carlyle Secured Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.33.

Carlyle Secured Lending Price Performance

CGBD opened at $12.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.26. Carlyle Secured Lending has a fifty-two week low of $11.55 and a fifty-two week high of $18.64. The firm has a market cap of $650.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.68.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $66.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.61 million. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 9.24% and a net margin of 30.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.5%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s dividend payout ratio is 135.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John G. Nestor sold 7,085 shares of Carlyle Secured Lending stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.87, for a total value of $84,098.95. Following the sale, the director owned 7,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,119.96. The trade was a 48.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the third quarter worth $3,133,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 276.1% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 33,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 24,285 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Carlyle Secured Lending by 92.4% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 88,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 42,420 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP raised its holdings in Carlyle Secured Lending by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 48,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 18,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Carlyle Secured Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $974,000. Institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Carlyle Secured Lending Company Profile

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc is business development company specializing in first lien debt, senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loan unsecured debt, mezzanine debt and investments in equities. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. It targets healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, high tech industries, business services, software, beverage food and tobacco, hotel gamming and leisure, banking finance insurance and in real estate sector.