Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from B. Riley Financial

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) had its target price reduced by B. Riley Financial from $23.50 to $22.50 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

BXSL has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a report on Monday, October 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $25.50 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a report on Monday, October 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.72.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 1.6%

BXSL opened at $23.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.05. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a twelve month low of $22.47 and a twelve month high of $28.59.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.02. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $315.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $317.81 million. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a decrease from Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is currently 256.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Latitude Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the third quarter valued at $37,000. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the first quarter valued at $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to private businesses. Its investment portfolio focuses primarily on senior secured, floating-rate loans, particularly first-lien debt, to established middle-market companies. The fund may also invest in second-lien loans, unsecured debt and equity securities. Its investments span a range of industries, and its lending activity is focused mainly on companies in the United States. Formed in 2018, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is externally managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance, part of Blackstone.