Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the August 31st total of 1,130,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 940,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on BXSL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $31.50 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BXSL. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth $4,707,000. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 155,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $462,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 49,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXSL traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $29.27. 561,038 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 937,535. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $32.67. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.03 and its 200 day moving average is $30.76.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $327.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.23 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 58.08% and a return on equity of 13.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.52%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.13%.

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).