Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.1250.

BXSL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.75 to $24.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass acquired 2,095 shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.80 per share, with a total value of $49,861.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 25,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $597,546.60. The trade was a 9.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BXSL. Empowered Funds LLC lifted 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 worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 10,696 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 worth $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 12,450 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,122,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 17,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter worth about $455,000. 36.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE BXSL opened at $23.62 on Friday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12 month low of $22.47 and a 12 month high of $32.81. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.17.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 31.63%.The business had revenue of $254.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.15 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is currently 161.26%.

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.