Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Shares Cross Below 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) shares crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.71 and traded as low as $17.45. Sixth Street Specialty Lending shares last traded at $17.6350, with a volume of 428,168 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a report on Friday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.71.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a current ratio of 3.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $17.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.04.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 19.81%. The company had revenue of $98.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 200.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Latitude Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Burk Holdings LLC bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 1st quarter valued at about $63,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the 2nd quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. is a business development company that provides customized financing to middle-market companies. Its investment strategy focuses on privately negotiated loans and other investments in businesses across a range of industries. The company’s investments include senior secured first-lien loans, unitranche and second-lien loans, and, in some cases, mezzanine debt and equity. It primarily serves companies in the United States, including both sponsor-backed and non-sponsor-backed businesses.