Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) Short Interest Up 21.4% in March

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,488,734 shares, a growth of 21.4% from the March 15th total of 2,874,131 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 786,565 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 5.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

Shares of CGBD stock opened at $11.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $817.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.30 and a 200 day moving average of $12.07. Carlyle Secured Lending has a 52 week low of $10.61 and a 52 week high of $15.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). Carlyle Secured Lending had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $66.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.26 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Carlyle Secured Lending will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.8%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s payout ratio is currently 156.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CGBD. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Carlyle Secured Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.20.

Insider Activity at Carlyle Secured Lending

In related news, Director John G. Nestor sold 4,401 shares of Carlyle Secured Lending stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $49,687.29. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,275.64. The trade was a 44.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Carlyle Secured Lending

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CGBD. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Carlyle Secured Lending by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 428,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,352,000 after acquiring an additional 96,245 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC raised its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 457,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,712,000 after acquiring an additional 206,733 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in the 4th quarter worth approximately $285,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 34,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. 24.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ: CGBD) is a closed-end, non-diversified business development company that provides customized debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. Chartered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the company invests primarily in floating-rate senior secured loans, including first-lien, unitranche and one-stop structures. Its objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation through disciplined credit selection and active portfolio management.

The firm focuses on U.S.