Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on BXSL (1 sell, 3 hold, 5 buy) with an average 1-year target of $26.28, and several brokers have recently cut target prices and downgraded the stock.
• BXSL declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 (annualized $3.08), implying a 12.6% yield and a payout ratio of 125.2%, signaling a high yield but a stretched payout.
• In the latest quarter BXSL reported $0.80 EPS (beat by $0.01) but revenue of $196.5M significantly missed expectations; the shares trade around $24.48 with a market cap of about $5.7B and a 12-month range of $22.47–$32.81.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.2813.

BXSL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.50 to $24.75 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. B. Riley Financial cut shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $24.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock opened at $24.48 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $24.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.40. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12 month low of $22.47 and a 12 month high of $32.81.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $196.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $359.59 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 11.82%. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's payout ratio is currently 125.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BXSL. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 139.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 10,696 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 90,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,783,000 after buying an additional 12,450 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,122,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 568.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 17,248 shares during the period. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $455,000. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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