Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Issues Earnings Results

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The business had revenue of $315.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.81 million.

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

• Dividend reset announced: BXSL will maintain its $0.77-per-share dividend for the fourth quarter, then reduce it to $0.60 in the first quarter of 2027, a roughly 9.5% annualized yield on quarter-end NAV. Third-quarter NII was $0.68 per share, and NAV fell $0.28 to $25.25.
• The portfolio remains nearly 96% first-lien senior secured, with average borrower EBITDA growth of about 10% and interest coverage of 2.1x. Non-accruals increased to 2.1% of fair value from 1.8% last quarter, though the rate at cost declined to 2.8% from 3.6%.
• Management highlighted active restructuring and recovery efforts, reporting 0.87x principal recovery, excluding coupons, on fully or substantially realized restructured positions. BXSL also recorded about $10.5 million in unrealized equity gains tied to the announced sale of Genuine Cable Group.
• New investments and add-ons carried spreads above 500 basis points, and new investment yields were around 9% versus mid-to-high 8% yields on repayments. Management expects deal activity to pick up in the first half of 2027, while noting that refinancing roughly $3.2 billion of older, low-coupon notes may offset some benefit from higher base rates.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Down 0.4%

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $24.08. 1,739,498 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,035,371. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.11. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1 year low of $22.47 and a 1 year high of $28.59.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a decrease from Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is 256.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BXSL. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research report on Monday, October 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $25.50 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research report on Monday, October 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.83.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL) is a business development company that invests in privately owned middle-market companies. The fund seeks to generate current income and long-term capital appreciation primarily through investments in senior secured, floating-rate loans.

BXSL’s portfolio may also include second-lien loans, unsecured debt and equity investments. Its investments are generally made in companies across a range of industries, with an emphasis on businesses that have established operations and cash flows.