Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.1250.

Several research firms have commented on BXSL. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 28th.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of BXSL stock opened at $25.64 on Friday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $24.85 and a fifty-two week high of $34.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.02. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 42.38%.The business had revenue of $358.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.55 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,476,000 after buying an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,731,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,576,000 after buying an additional 2,504,617 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,260,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,024,000 after acquiring an additional 156,680 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 3,359,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,305,000 after acquiring an additional 216,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 2,044,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,300,000 after acquiring an additional 32,776 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

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.