Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL) has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, with 4 buy, 4 hold, and 2 sell ratings among the 10 brokerages covering the stock.
• Several firms have recently turned more cautious on the stock, including downgrades from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Zacks Research, and Wells Fargo, while the average 12-month price target sits at about $24.78.
• The company posted Q1 earnings of $0.77 per share, beating estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 13.3%.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.7778.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a report on Thursday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.75 to $24.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BXSL stock opened at $23.22 on Friday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1 year low of $22.47 and a 1 year high of $32.67. The firm's 50 day moving average is $23.62 and its 200-day moving average is $24.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.37.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 31.63% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $254.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.15 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 161.26%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass purchased 2,095 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.80 per share, for a total transaction of $49,861.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,107 shares in the company, valued at $597,546.60. This represents a 9.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

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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