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

Key Points

• Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from six covering brokerages, with an average twelve-month price target of $31.3750.
• Institutional investors, including Bank of America, have increased their stakes in the fund, with over 36.49% of the stock currently owned by these entities.
• The fund recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, yielding 10.5% annually, although its dividend payout ratio is high at 108.45%.

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.3750.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BXSL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,476,000 after buying an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 4,953,039 shares of the company's stock worth $160,033,000 after acquiring an additional 78,054 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,260,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,024,000 after purchasing an additional 156,680 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 3,359,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,305,000 after purchasing an additional 216,835 shares during the period. Finally, CCLA Investment Management boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 3,214,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,986 shares during the period. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.41. The company had a trading volume of 286,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,556. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $25.89 and a fifty-two week high of $34.64. The firm's fifty day moving average is $30.92 and its 200-day moving average is $31.15. The company has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.45.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $344.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.55 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's dividend payout ratio is presently 108.45%.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

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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