Financial Analysis: Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) versus StoneX Group (NASDAQ:SNEX)

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) and StoneX Group (NASDAQ:SNEX) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, StoneX Group has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Blackstone Secured Lending Fund and StoneX Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	21.51%	11.86%	5.10%
StoneX Group	0.33%	20.18%	1.05%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

36.5% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.9% of StoneX Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.8% of StoneX Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Blackstone Secured Lending Fund and StoneX Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	1	7	4	0	2.25
StoneX Group	0	3	1	0	2.25

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund presently has a consensus target price of $24.83, suggesting a potential upside of 3.11%. StoneX Group has a consensus target price of $112.00, suggesting a potential upside of 106.22%. Given StoneX Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe StoneX Group is more favorable than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Blackstone Secured Lending Fund and StoneX Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	$1.42 billion	3.95	$563.46 million	$1.20	20.07
StoneX Group	$132.38 billion	0.05	$305.90 million	$4.19	12.96

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has higher earnings, but lower revenue than StoneX Group. StoneX Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Blackstone Secured Lending Fund, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

StoneX Group beats Blackstone Secured Lending Fund on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act). In addition, the Fund elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a regulated investment company (RIC), as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The fund also intends to continue to comply with the requirements prescribed by the Code in order to maintain tax treatment as a RIC. The fund's investment objectives are to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily through originated loans, equity and other securities, including syndicated loans, of private U.S. companies, specifically small and middle market companies, typically in the form of first lien senior secured and unitranche loans (including first out/last out loans), and to a lesser extent, second lien, third lien, unsecured and subordinated loans and other debt and equity securities.

About StoneX Group

StoneX Group Inc. operates as a global financial services network that connects companies, organizations, traders, and investors to market ecosystem worldwide. The company operates through Commercial, Institutional, Retail, and Global Payments segments. The Commercial segment provides risk management and hedging, exchange-traded and OTC products execution and clearing, voice brokerage, market intelligence, physical trading, and commodity financing and logistics services. The Institutional segment offers equity trading services to institutional clients; clearing and execution services in futures exchanges; brokerage foreign exchange services for the financial institutions and professional traders; and OTC products, as well as originates, structures, and places debt instruments in capital markets. This segment also operates as an institutional dealer in fixed income securities to serve asset managers, commercial bank trust and investment departments, broker-dealers, and insurance companies, as well as engages in asset management business. The Retail segment provides trading services and solutions in the global financial markets, including spot foreign exchange, precious metals trading, and contracts for differences; and wealth management services, as well as offers physical gold and other precious metals in various forms and denominations through Stonexbullion.com. The Global Payments segment provides customized payment, technology, and treasury services to banks and commercial businesses, charities, and non-governmental and government organizations; and pricing and payments services. The company was formerly known as INTL FCStone Inc. and changed its name to StoneX Group Inc. in July 2020. StoneX Group Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in New York, New York.