Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL)’s stock price traded down 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $24.20 and last traded at $24.2250. 1,743,133 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the average daily volume of 1,268,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BXSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer started coverage on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.89.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.95.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $233.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.72 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 21.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.6%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is presently 242.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) is a business development company that provides financing to private, primarily U.S.-based companies. The fund is externally managed by an affiliate of Blackstone, a global investment firm, and operates as part of Blackstone’s private credit platform.

BXSL’s investment strategy focuses mainly on senior secured, floating-rate loans, with an emphasis on first-lien debt. Its portfolio companies are generally middle-market businesses across a range of industries.