Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $23.76 and last traded at $23.35, with a volume of 102 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.26.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 6.99%. This is a boost from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $22.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.07.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.06.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $123.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.07 million. Sixth Street Specialty Lending had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 38.67%. Research analysts anticipate that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 58,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.