Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $196.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.59 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 42.38%.

Here are the key takeaways from Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s conference call:

• BXSL reported strong quarterly results with net investment income of $0.80 per share (11.8% annualized ROE) and a $0.77 distribution that was 104% covered, producing a 9.6% net return for the year and an 11.4% distribution yield on NAV.
• Management was highly active—funding ~$1.0B, committing ~$900M, growing the portfolio to 316 companies, and saying BXCI has over $40 billion of dry powder to deploy into direct lending opportunities.
• Portfolio credit fundamentals remain healthy, with the top ~90% of names showing ~9% EBITDA growth, >2x interest coverage, an average mark near 99, and low non-accruals (~0.6% at cost).
• Marks were concentrated in a few underperformers—most notably Medallia (now marked to 77.75) and the bottom 10% averaging a mark of 82—creating concentrated downside risk in a small subset of the portfolio.
• Management has $2.5B of liquidity, a board-approved $250M buyback program, and visibility to ~$550M of near-term repayments (with up to ~$2B possible over the year), and will opportunistically allocate between new loans, repurchases, or deleveraging.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of BXSL traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.31. 1,279,462 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,300,197. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a twelve month low of $23.31 and a twelve month high of $34.17. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.02.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $167,000. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 3rd quarter worth $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on BXSL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 28th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.13.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL) is a closed-end management investment company sponsored by Blackstone Credit, the credit-oriented business of Blackstone Inc Launched in May 2020, BXSL seeks to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation. The fund raises capital from institutional and retail investors and deploys it into a diversified portfolio of senior secured loans and other credit instruments.

The fund’s principal investment focus is on first-lien senior secured loans and unitranche debt extended to middle-market companies across North America.