Brokerages Set Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Target Price at $26.28

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.2813.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. B. Riley Financial lowered Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.50 to $24.75 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:BXSL opened at $24.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.73. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12-month low of $22.47 and a 12-month high of $32.81.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $196.54 million for 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.5%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.20%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BXSL. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,149,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,597,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,843 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,731,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504,617 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,476,000 after acquiring an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1,160.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 869,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,680,000 after purchasing an additional 800,969 shares during the period. Finally, Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $20,142,000. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.