Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Trading Down 3.2% – Here’s What Happened

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL)’s share price dropped 3.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.31 and last traded at $26.3170. Approximately 562,058 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 1,416,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BXSL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.38.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 3.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.68.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.02. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 42.38% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm had revenue of $358.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.55 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is 115.79%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass purchased 3,760 shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.63 per share, for a total transaction of $100,128.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 21,167 shares in the company, valued at $563,677.21. This represents a 21.60% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,476,000 after purchasing an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,260,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,024,000 after buying an additional 156,680 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc boosted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 3,359,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,305,000 after buying an additional 216,835 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 2,044,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,300,000 after acquiring an additional 32,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 7.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,640,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,083,000 after acquiring an additional 106,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL) is a closed-end management investment company sponsored by Blackstone Credit, the credit-oriented business of Blackstone Inc Launched in May 2020, BXSL seeks to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation. The fund raises capital from institutional and retail investors and deploys it into a diversified portfolio of senior secured loans and other credit instruments.

The fund’s principal investment focus is on first-lien senior secured loans and unitranche debt extended to middle-market companies across North America.