Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.92.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BXSL. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 140,837.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 759,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,261,000 after purchasing an additional 759,116 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,199,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 549,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,193,000 after purchasing an additional 253,504 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,540,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,987,000 after purchasing an additional 200,109 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,740,000. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 0.4 %

BXSL stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Monday, reaching $30.62. 208,078 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 910,451. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $32.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 8.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $303.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.08 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 55.54% and a return on equity of 14.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is 82.13%.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act).