Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.5417.

BXSL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE BXSL opened at $30.09 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $31.54 and its 200-day moving average is $31.59. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12-month low of $25.89 and a 12-month high of $34.64. The firm has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 0.46.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.04). Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 44.25% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $344.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.55 million. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's payout ratio is presently 108.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert J. Bass acquired 1,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.78 per share, with a total value of $50,048.28. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 17,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $535,664.34. This represents a 10.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,280 shares of the company's stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 5.0% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,487 shares of the company's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.0% in the first quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 45.1% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,270 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FLC Capital Advisors raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.8% in the second quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 14,715 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. 36.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act).

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