FSSL

Hot Air

FS Specialty Lending Fund · $884M cap · $3.1M/day traded

$12.13 +0.7% · close 11 Nov · scored 11 Nov

Hot Air: Strong momentum and nothing else: weak business, rich price.

58
Score
Get score and insider alerts
Quality
43
Value
44
Momentum
66

As of 11 Nov 2026, the MoatMap Score for FS Specialty Lending Fund (FSSL) is 58/100, ranked against 25,000+ stocks in 38 markets (Quality 43, Value 44, Momentum 66, each scored across all sectors, as none is on record).

Does the score work? Each tenth of the ranking, tracked monthly. See the record →

P/E (TTM)
20.2x
ROE
3.1%
D/E
0.4x
Dividend %
11.9%

ABOUT FS SPECIALTY LENDING FUND

Read

FS Specialty Lending Fund is an investment vehicle focused on providing direct lending solutions to middle-market companies. The fund emphasizes capital preservation and yield generation by investing in diversified portfolios of senior secured loans and floating-rate debt instruments.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY (USD)

Year20212022202320242025CAGRTTM2026E2027EFwd CAGR
Revenue—200.4M-103.9M112.2M75.5M-27.8%194.8M193.1M202.0M63.6%
EPS2.762.46-1.621.260.73-28.3%0.59———
Shares—75.2M75.9M75.9M75.9M+0.9%75.9M———
Debt—760.1M394.4M496.5M514.1M-12.2%515.2M———
Equity—1.8B1.6B1.5B1.4B-7.6%————
Op CF—493.8M436.5M-206.7M104.7M-40.4%91.7M———
Inv CF——————————
Fin CF—-46.0M-425.4M-47.0M-194.6M—————
PRICE (1Y) · USD+2.4%
11.411.611.811.912.11 Oct22 Oct11 Nov
SMA 50SMA 200

Price checkNo read yetExperimental

Not enough steady price history for a read yet.

SwingsVery calm

Calmer than 92% of stocks we rank over the past year (volatility 19% a year).

How this is worked out

The MoatMap Score weighs the business, its price and its trend. The price check reads only the chart: the price side of the Momentum score, in words.

The rules: Still falling is a new 52-week low in the last two weeks, at least 25% below the high. Finding a floor is no new low since. Turning up is 20 or more trading days without a new low, at least 10% off it, and back above a rising 50-day average. In an uptrend is above the 200-day average and within 15% of the high.

In 2,112 US drawdowns since 2001, buying while the price was still falling was followed by a further 20% drop 42% of the time. Waiting for a turn (the Turning up rule above) cut that to 33%, at about 7% higher prices and with no better returns. Part of that cut is simply not buying: 13% of falls never turned, and waiting kept those out. Among turns that were bought, 38% still fell another 20%, and 33% of turns were followed by a new low within six months. The benefit was largest in crashes such as 2008 and 2020.

What it measures: how much the price moved day to day over the past year, scaled to a yearly figure (annualised volatility) and ranked against every stock we cover. Very calm under 20% a year, Calm 20 to 30%, Average 30 to 40%, Bumpy 40 to 55%, Very bumpy above that.

What we found: across about 13,500 stocks in 34 markets (2002 to 2025), past swings were a good guide to the next year's, and bumpier stocks fell further. How much further changed too much between eras to put a number on it.

Calm is not safe: a calm stock can still slide steadily.

Rules fixed before any data was fetched. Describes the chart, not a recommendation.

Close
$12.13
RSI (14)
69.7
52W High
$13.33
From 52W High
-9.0%

SCORE BREAKDOWN

Quality
43
ROIC (ROA)
4.5%*39.5
ROE
3.1%32.5
GP/Assets
10.1%33.0
Op. Margin
72.5%97.9
FCF/Assets
—N/A
Piotroski
447.6
Int. Cover
—89.0
D/E Ratio
0.38x46.8
Current Ratio
0.50x4.8
Value
44
P/E (TTM)
20.2x41.5
EV/EBITDA
—N/A
P/FCF
—N/A
P/B
0.7x85.3
P/S
4.6x22.6
Div Yield
11.9%97.6
Momentum
66
52W High %
91%82.5
RS 6M
8%73.5
SMA 50/200
1.03x68.4
EPS Rev 4W
-0.6%18.2
EPS Rev 12W
—N/A
EPS Improve
+166%82.0
Q Growth
14%48.8

FUNDAMENTALS

Market Cap
$884M
P/E (Forward)
7.6x
Gross Margin
100.0%

Company Deep Dive

A 10,000-word report: the business and its segments, what management promised on earnings calls and whether it delivered, the competition, and how things could turn out.

Request Deep Dive(50 Feathers)

FS Specialty Lending Fund (FSSL): Stock Score Summary

FS Specialty Lending Fund (FSSL) has a MoatMap Score of 58/100 based on Quality (43/100), Value (44/100), and Momentum (66/100) factor scores.

FS Specialty Lending Fund is an investment vehicle focused on providing direct lending solutions to middle-market companies. The fund emphasizes capital preservation and yield generation by investing in diversified portfolios of senior secured loans and floating-rate debt instruments.

Director dealings

From 2 Jan 2026 to 11 Nov 2026, MoatMap's records hold no sales and 5 purchases of FS Specialty Lending Fund (FSSL) shares by its directors. The largest: Forman Michael C. bought 40,884 shares at $11.83 on 6 Mar 2026 (about $484K).

  • 12 Mar 2026: Ramos Pedro A bought 1,000 shares at $12.40 (about $12K)
  • 10 Mar 2026: Goldstein Richard I bought 10,000 shares at $11.92 (about $119K)
  • 9 Mar 2026: Goebel William Blake bought 2,200 shares at $11.44 (about $25K)
  • 6 Mar 2026: Forman Michael C. bought 40,884 shares at $11.83 (about $484K)
  • 5 Mar 2026: Forman Michael C. bought 956 shares at $11.95 (about $11K)
FSSL insider filings, last 180 days

Key Financial Metrics

Price$12.13
Market Cap$884M
P/E (TTM)20.15
P/E (Forward)7.57
Price/Book0.66
Return on Equity3.1%
Debt/Equity0.38x
Gross Margin100.0%
Operating Margin72.5%
Revenue Growth-6.4%
Dividend Yield11.9%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is FS Specialty Lending Fund’s (FSSL) MoatMap Score?
The MoatMap Score for FS Specialty Lending Fund (FSSL) is 58/100. It is a composite of Quality (43), Value (44), and Momentum (66), each scored against its sector. The composite is then ranked across MoatMap’s universe of 25,000+ stocks.
Does FS Specialty Lending Fund have an economic moat?
FS Specialty Lending Fund (FSSL) has a Quality factor score of 43/100. Quality blends several measures of profitability and financial strength, led by gross profit to assets, return on invested capital and free cash flow to assets. A high score describes the financial record a durable advantage tends to leave; it does not prove a moat.