SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $12.82 and last traded at $12.8220, with a volume of 224165 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of SLR Investment from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Compass Point raised shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of SLR Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered SLR Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price objective on SLR Investment and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $14.40.

SLR Investment Stock Down 2.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.85. The company has a market cap of $697.82 million, a P/E ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.64.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $47.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.01 million. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 41.81%. Equities research analysts anticipate that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at SLR Investment

In other news, insider Michael S. Gross bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.09 per share, with a total value of $130,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,035,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,820,152.77. This represents a 0.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders bought 45,452 shares of company stock valued at $623,933. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in SLR Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,411,000. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SLR Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,033,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLR Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $2,650,000. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 145,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Investment Management acquired a new stake in SLR Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $1,930,000. Institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

About SLR Investment

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: SLRC) is a closed‐end, externally managed business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to middle‐market companies. The firm seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien financings, mezzanine debt and equity co‐investments. Its flexible capital approach allows it to structure financing across the capital structure to address a range of sponsor‐backed transactions.

SLR Investment Corp.