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

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.80.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BXSL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

BXSL stock opened at $30.46 on Tuesday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1 year low of $25.83 and a 1 year high of $32.67. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.76.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $327.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.23 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 58.08% and a return on equity of 13.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,707,000. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter worth about $218,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 0.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 155,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $462,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 49,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

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).