Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after B. Riley Financial downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. B. Riley Financial now has a $24.50 price target on the stock. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund traded as low as $22.64 and last traded at $22.7750, with a volume of 372762 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.11.

BXSL has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.41.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BXSL. CWC Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.0% during the third quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 161,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 84,599 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 24.5% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 14.3% during the third quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 5.3% during the third quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 63,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 3,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.88.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 39.69%.The business had revenue of $196.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.59 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.5%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is 125.20%.

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.