Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,710,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the February 28th total of 1,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 387,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sixth Street Specialty Lending

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLX. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $49,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 378.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 3,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Price Performance

TSLX traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.29. 310,654 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 341,295. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Sixth Street Specialty Lending has a 1-year low of $19.50 and a 1-year high of $23.67.

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

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.07 dividend. This is a positive change from Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s previous dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 6.99%. Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on TSLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.17.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Company Profile

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.