Brokerages Set Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Price Target at $32.79

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.79.

A number of brokerages have commented on BXSL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.50 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $33.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2,548.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,032,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,448,000 after purchasing an additional 10,615,491 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth $67,323,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,563,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035,623 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter valued at $35,640,000. Finally, Progeny 3 Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter valued at $24,345,000. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

NYSE:BXSL opened at $32.66 on Tuesday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a one year low of $27.76 and a one year high of $34.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.74.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $353.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.52 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 53.91%. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.43%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.76%.

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).