Brokerages Set Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Price Target at $31.80

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.80.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BXSL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $31.50 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:BXSL opened at $30.88 on Friday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12 month low of $26.44 and a 12 month high of $32.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 0.43.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.01). Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 58.08%. The company had revenue of $327.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.97%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BXSL. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 51.7% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 5,035,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715,357 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 106.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,180,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640,211 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 140,837.8% in the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 759,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,261,000 after acquiring an additional 759,116 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter worth about $12,199,000. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter worth about $8,042,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

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).