Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.79.

BXSL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.50 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $33.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of BXSL stock opened at $32.66 on Tuesday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $27.76 and a fifty-two week high of $34.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.74.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $353.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.52 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 53.91%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is 88.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Aviso Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,055,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 3rd quarter valued at $403,000. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 337,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,880,000 after purchasing an additional 34,349 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 3rd quarter worth $251,000. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 14.2% during the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 12,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

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).