Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Short Interest Update

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 883,000 shares, an increase of 21.3% from the October 31st total of 728,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 305,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 1.7% in the second quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 36,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 7.9% during the second quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 14,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 17,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the period. Barnett & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 29,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Up 1.4 %

TSLX stock opened at $21.48 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.98. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 12 month low of $19.50 and a 12 month high of $22.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 39.05%. The company had revenue of $119.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on TSLX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $21.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

About Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc (NYSE: TSLX) is a business development company. The fund provides senior secured loans (first-lien, second-lien, and unitranche), unsecured loans, mezzanine debt, and investments in corporate bonds and equity securities and structured products, non-control structured equity, and common equity with a focus on co-investments for organic growth, acquisitions, market or product expansion, restructuring initiatives, recapitalizations, and refinancing.