Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 15,673 Shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 116,533 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,673 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Oaktree Specialty Lending were worth $1,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of OCSL. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.79% of the company’s stock.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Shares of OCSL stock opened at $15.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.88. Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. has a one year low of $14.89 and a one year high of $19.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The business had revenue of $86.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.93 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 14.75%. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s quarterly revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Oaktree Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 238.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on OCSL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. B. Riley cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.75.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Profile

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation is a business development company. The fund specializing in investments in middle market, bridge financing, first and second lien debt financing, unsecured and mezzanine loan, mezzanine debt, senior and junior secured debt, expansions, sponsor-led acquisitions, preferred equity, and management buyouts in small and mid-sized companies.