Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target for Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) from $27.00 to $28.00, indicating a potential 6.98% downside based on its previous close while maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock.
• In contrast, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target for BXSL from $33.50 to $30.00, while the average target price set by analysts is $31.54 with a rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund traded down 0.3% to $30.10, with the company recently reporting earnings that missed expectations, highlighting a challenging financial outlook.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Free Report) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.54.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $30.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 568,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,668. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1 year low of $25.89 and a 1 year high of $34.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.56. The company has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.46.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $344.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $353.55 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.2%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.45%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass acquired 1,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.78 per share, with a total value of $50,048.28. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 17,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $535,664.34. This trade represents a 10.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CCLA Investment Management grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,128,986 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc grew its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 33.1% in the 1st quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 3,142,688 shares of the company's stock worth $101,697,000 after purchasing an additional 781,394 shares during the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $24,345,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,682,928 shares of the company's stock worth $215,925,000 after purchasing an additional 741,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $21,255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company's stock.

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).