Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $23.30 and last traded at $23.81, with a volume of 605328 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BXSL shares. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.00.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Up 0.3%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.43.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 11.82%. The firm had revenue of $196.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.59 million. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 announced 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. 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 12.9%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is presently 125.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.1% during 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 lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,504,617 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,476,000 after purchasing an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1,160.9% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 869,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,680,000 after buying an additional 800,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,142,000. 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.