Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.89.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $25.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 14.5% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 1,771 shares during the last quarter. Prota Financial LLC grew its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.9% during the third quarter. Prota Financial LLC now owns 245,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,866,000 after buying an additional 4,646 shares during the period. Apeiron RIA LLC grew its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 113.8% during the third quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 81,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after buying an additional 43,232 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 25.3% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 132,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,174,000 after buying an additional 26,755 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 13.5% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 26,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

BXSL opened at $23.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.98. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $22.47 and a 52-week high of $28.59.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 11.86%. The firm had revenue of $320.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.72 million. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued 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 13.0%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is presently 242.52%.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL) is a business development company that invests primarily in the debt of privately owned, middle-market companies. The fund focuses on generating income through a portfolio of senior secured loans, with an emphasis on first-lien loans and other floating-rate investments.

BXSL may also invest in second-lien loans, unsecured debt and equity interests when appropriate. Its investments are sourced and managed through the private credit platform of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers.