Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $23.28 and last traded at $23.3870, with a volume of 335942 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.50 to $24.75 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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, February 26th. Six 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.09.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 2.5%

The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.62 and a 200 day moving average of $26.07.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $359.59 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 39.69%. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.3%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is currently 125.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BXSL. Delphi Management Inc. MA boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 45,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC increased its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV raised its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV now owns 25,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.