Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Price Target to $23.00

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.50 to $23.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on TSLX. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $22.50 price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $22.67.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending stock opened at $21.22 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 1.03. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 52 week low of $17.31 and a 52 week high of $22.35.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 47.16%. The company had revenue of $119.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sixth Street Specialty Lending will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 3,134,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,713,000 after buying an additional 79,180 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 4.0% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,070,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,366,000 after acquiring an additional 80,581 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,057,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,452,000 after acquiring an additional 63,281 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,811,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,818,000 after purchasing an additional 206,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callodine Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 1,410,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,821,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.