Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Receives $26.03 Average PT from Analysts

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.6250.

BXSL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.75 to $24.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

BXSL stock opened at $23.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.44. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $32.81.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $254.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.15 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 31.63%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is 161.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert J. Bass bought 2,095 shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.80 per share, with a total value of $49,861.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 25,107 shares in the company, valued at $597,546.60. This trade represents a 9.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BXSL. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 1st quarter worth $94,760,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,149,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,597,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,843 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,731,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504,617 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in 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 valued at $240,476,000 after buying an additional 832,179 shares in the last quarter. 36.49% of the stock is 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.