Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) shares hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $24.65 and last traded at $24.90, with a volume of 1768257 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BXSL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, B. Riley cut their target price on shares of 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.13.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.85 and its 200 day moving average is $27.74. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 0.41.

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. The business had revenue of $358.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.55 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 42.38%. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,731,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504,617 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,476,000 after buying an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1,160.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 869,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,680,000 after buying an additional 800,969 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 106.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,166,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,859,000 after buying an additional 600,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,033,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,936,000 after acquiring an additional 566,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

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.