Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial cut shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $24.50 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.41.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

NYSE:BXSL opened at $22.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.40. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $32.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.86.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $196.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.59 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 39.69%. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 135.1% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.