Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL) Reaches New 12-Month Low - Should You Sell?

Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. (NASDAQ:OCSL - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $14.01 and last traded at $14.11, with a volume of 432799 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on OCSL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Oaktree Specialty Lending from $16.50 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Oaktree Specialty Lending from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, B. Riley cut Oaktree Specialty Lending from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.42.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Trading Up 7.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $15.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.77. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Oaktree Specialty Lending (NASDAQ:OCSL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $86.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $91.93 million. Oaktree Specialty Lending had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.07%. Oaktree Specialty Lending's quarterly revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Oaktree Specialty Lending Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.51%. Oaktree Specialty Lending's payout ratio is 238.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OCSL. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending by 21.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 54,278 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 9,495 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending during the third quarter valued at $2,849,000. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new stake in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $175,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Oaktree Specialty Lending in the 3rd quarter worth about $508,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Oaktree Specialty Lending by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,766 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.79% of the company's stock.

About Oaktree Specialty Lending

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.