Essex Financial Services Inc. Makes New $387,000 Investment in Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX)

Essex Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (NYSE:TSLX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,187 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TSLX. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 378.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending by 92.5% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 6,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in the third quarter valued at $196,000. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sixth Street Specialty Lending during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors own 70.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on TSLX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $23.00 to $21.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Sixth Street Specialty Lending from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Sixth Street Specialty Lending in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sixth Street Specialty Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sixth Street Specialty Lending currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Stock Performance

Sixth Street Specialty Lending stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $22.97. The company had a trading volume of 730,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,707. Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. has a one year low of $19.50 and a one year high of $23.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.60 and a 200 day moving average of $21.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 2.50.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (NYSE:TSLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 39.05% and a return on equity of 13.55%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Sixth Street Specialty Lending's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Sixth Street Specialty Lending's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.32%.

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.