Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.7778.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $23.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

BXSL stock opened at $24.59 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.95. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52 week low of $22.47 and a 52 week high of $30.20. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 0.38.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.75 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 analysts’ expectations of $326.72 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 11.86%. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.5%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 242.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 1st quarter valued at $94,760,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,149,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,597,000 after buying an additional 2,721,843 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,731,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504,617 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,476,000 after acquiring an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

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.