Short Interest in SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) Increases By 19.2%

SLR Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:SLRC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 195,300 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the May 31st total of 163,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 148,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrea Colvin Roberts bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.98 per share, for a total transaction of $399,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,500. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLR Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLRC. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of SLR Investment by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 689,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,605,000 after purchasing an additional 12,119 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in SLR Investment by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 84,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in SLR Investment by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 112,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 32,647 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in SLR Investment by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 3,081 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in SLR Investment by 1,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 32,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 30,669 shares during the period. 35.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on SLR Investment from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (up from $16.00) on shares of SLR Investment in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.88.

SLR Investment Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLRC opened at $15.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $870.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.45. SLR Investment has a 1 year low of $13.93 and a 1 year high of $16.77.

SLR Investment (NASDAQ:SLRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44. The company had revenue of $58.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.96 million. SLR Investment had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 41.66%. On average, analysts forecast that SLR Investment will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLR Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 13th. SLR Investment’s payout ratio is currently 92.13%.

SLR Investment Company 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.