SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 176,597 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the previous session’s volume of 158,287 shares.The stock last traded at $16.40 and had previously closed at $16.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLRC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of SLR Investment in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on SLR Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of SLR Investment from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $15.50 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SLR Investment currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.25.

SLR Investment Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.71. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $896.42 million, a PE ratio of 9.26 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The business 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that SLR Investment Corp. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.98%. SLR Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.66%.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SLR Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of SLR Investment in the third quarter worth $90,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of SLR Investment during the third quarter worth $170,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in SLR Investment during the second quarter valued at $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.32% of the company’s stock.

About SLR Investment

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.