Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 325,600 shares, an increase of 37.4% from the November 15th total of 237,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 174,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Secured Lending

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CGBD. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Carlyle Secured Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Carlyle Secured Lending during the second quarter valued at $52,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Carlyle Secured Lending during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Carlyle Secured Lending during the second quarter worth about $189,000. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in Carlyle Secured Lending by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 11,665 shares of the company's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.51% of the company's stock.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

CGBD stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.84. 239,421 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 205,753. Carlyle Secured Lending has a 52 week low of $14.76 and a 52 week high of $18.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $908.23 million, a PE ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 1.59.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $55.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.09%. Carlyle Secured Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.39%.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc is business development company specializing in first lien debt, senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loan unsecured debt, mezzanine debt and investments in equities. It specializes in directly investing. It specializes in middle market. It targets healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, high tech industries, business services, software, beverage food and tobacco, hotel gamming and leisure, banking finance insurance and in real estate sector.