Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by B. Riley Financial

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was downgraded by equities researchers at B. Riley Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday. They currently have a $24.50 target price on the stock. B. Riley Financial’s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BXSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.50 to $24.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.41.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of BXSL opened at $23.13 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.88. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $23.04 and a 1-year high of $32.81. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 0.40.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $196.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.59 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 11.82%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 139.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 10,696 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 15.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 90,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after buying an additional 12,450 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter valued at about $2,122,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 568.7% during the second 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 bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter worth about $455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

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.