SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Short Interest Down 20.4% in March

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 484,904 shares, a decrease of 20.4% from the March 15th total of 609,038 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 336,959 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

SLR Investment Trading Up 0.6%

SLR Investment stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.08. 455,892 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 310,297. The firm has a market capitalization of $877.22 million, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.69. SLR Investment has a fifty-two week low of $13.78 and a fifty-two week high of $17.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.06.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 42.34%.The firm had revenue of $54.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.97 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SLR Investment will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

SLR Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.2%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLR Investment news, insider Michael S. Gross purchased 10,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.90 per share, for a total transaction of $145,282.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,025,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,949,626.70. The trade was a 0.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in SLR Investment by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,357,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,990,000 after purchasing an additional 15,264 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in SLR Investment by 6.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,195,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,274,000 after purchasing an additional 74,983 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 577,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,932,000 after acquiring an additional 77,705 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 534,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,261,000 after acquiring an additional 145,323 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 449,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,946,000 after acquiring an additional 33,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on SLR Investment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Compass Point upgraded SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLR Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on SLR Investment from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on SLR Investment from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.29.

SLR Investment Company Profile

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.