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

Key Points

• B. Riley downgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) from Buy to Neutral with a $24.50 target (~5.9% upside), and several other firms (JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, UBS, Wall Street Zen) have trimmed ratings or targets; the analyst consensus is a Hold with an average target of $26.41 (5 Buys, 3 Holds, 1 Sell).
• BXSL posted Q EPS of $0.80 (beat by $0.01) but missed on revenue, and the stock trades around $23.13—near its 12‑month low ($23.04)—with a $5.37B market cap and moving averages (50‑day $24.26, 200‑day $25.88) indicating limited near‑term upside.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at B. Riley Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Thursday. They currently have a $24.50 price target on the stock. B. Riley Financial's target price suggests a potential upside of 5.93% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on BXSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.41.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

NYSE BXSL opened at $23.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 0.40. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12 month low of $23.04 and a 12 month high of $32.81. The company's fifty day moving average price is $24.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.88.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. The company 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BXSL. CWC Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.0% during the third quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 161,716 shares of the company's stock worth $4,216,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,365,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,530,000 after acquiring an additional 84,599 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,452 shares of the company's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 63,287 shares of the company's stock worth $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 3,168 shares in 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.

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