Muzinich & Co. Inc. Boosts Stake in SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC)

Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,280 shares during the period. SLR Investment makes up approximately 1.5% of Muzinich & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Muzinich & Co. Inc. owned 0.27% of SLR Investment worth $2,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLRC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment in the second quarter worth about $47,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment during the third quarter worth about $170,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in SLR Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $197,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in SLR Investment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $210,000. 35.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLR Investment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLRC opened at $16.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.69. SLR Investment Corp. has a 12 month low of $14.41 and a 12 month high of $16.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $881.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.12.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $59.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.48 million. SLR Investment had a net margin of 40.89% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.15%. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is 92.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SLRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $15.50 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of SLR Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on SLR Investment in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLR Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.25.

SLR Investment Profile

SLR Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in secured debt (first lien unitranche and second lien), subordinated (unsecured) debt, minority equity, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations, general refinancing, growth capital and strategic income-oriented control equity investments in leveraged middle market companies.