Short Interest in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Rises By 97.5%

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,784,374 shares, a growth of 97.5% from the December 15th total of 3,434,920 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,402,876 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,402,876 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:BXSL traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $26.25. 416,052 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,693,338. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.31. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $24.85 and a 52-week high of $34.64. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.42.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.02. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 42.38%.The firm had revenue of $358.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.55 million. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is 115.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,476,000 after acquiring an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 3.8% in the second 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 lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.9% during the second quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 3,359,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,305,000 after buying an additional 216,835 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.6% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 2,044,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,300,000 after buying an additional 32,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,365,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,530,000 after buying an additional 84,599 shares during the last quarter. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BXSL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. B. Riley cut their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.13.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

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.