Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Price Target Cut to $26.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund to $26 from $28, while keeping an outperform rating. The new target still implies about 9.4% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts have also recently lowered their targets, and the stock now carries a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $25.66. Among the latest calls, Truist and JPMorgan remain more bullish, while Wells Fargo and others are more cautious.
• BXSL reported Q1 earnings of $0.77 per share, topping estimates, even though revenue came in below expectations. The shares traded at $23.77 on Monday, near the lower end of their 52-week range.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $28.00 to $26.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.38% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BXSL. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $23.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.66.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXSL traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $23.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 290,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,565,215. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $32.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $254.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.15 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 31.63%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other news, insider Robert J. Bass acquired 2,095 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average price 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. The trade was a 9.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BXSL. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 5,323 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 31.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 108,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,573,000 after buying an additional 26,120 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 17.3% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,216,715 shares of the company's stock worth $52,514,000 after buying an additional 326,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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