Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Shares Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) were down 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $24.20 and last traded at $24.2250. 1,743,133 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the average daily volume of 1,268,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $25.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.89.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.95.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $233.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.72 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 21.51%. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.7%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is presently 242.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

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.