Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 39.69%.The firm had revenue of $196.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.59 million.

Here are the key takeaways from Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s conference call:

• BXSL reported strong quarterly results with net investment income of $0.80 per share (11.8% annualized ROE) and a $0.77 distribution that was 104% covered, producing a 9.6% net return for the year and an 11.4% distribution yield on NAV.
• Management was highly active—funding ~$1.0B, committing ~$900M, growing the portfolio to 316 companies, and saying BXCI has over $40 billion of dry powder to deploy into direct lending opportunities.
• Portfolio credit fundamentals remain healthy, with the top ~90% of names showing ~9% EBITDA growth, >2x interest coverage, an average mark near 99, and low non-accruals (~0.6% at cost).
• Marks were concentrated in a few underperformers—most notably Medallia (now marked to 77.75) and the bottom 10% averaging a mark of 82—creating concentrated downside risk in a small subset of the portfolio.
• Management has $2.5B of liquidity, a board-approved $250M buyback program, and visibility to ~$550M of near-term repayments (with up to ~$2B possible over the year), and will opportunistically allocate between new loans, repurchases, or deleveraging.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.90. 1,695,448 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,350,205. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.41. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $23.31 and a fifty-two week high of $34.17.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. B. Riley Financial cut their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BXSL. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $167,000. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the third quarter worth approximately $214,000. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.