Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.0938.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.50 to $24.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 139.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 10,696 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,360,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,830,000 after buying an additional 297,519 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 21.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 719,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,118,000 after buying an additional 125,179 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 7.3% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 133,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,107,000 after buying an additional 9,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,152,000. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXSL opened at $23.53 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.68 and a 200-day moving average of $26.11. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a twelve month low of $23.30 and a twelve month high of $33.35. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.43.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 11.82%. The business had revenue of $196.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.59 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.1%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.20%.

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.