Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Time to Buy?

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) shares were up 1.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $32.83 and last traded at $32.78. Approximately 971,909 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 963,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BXSL. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $33.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.79.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.97. The company has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 0.43.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 53.91% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $353.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $346.52 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is 88.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2,548.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,032,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,448,000 after buying an additional 10,615,491 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,682,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,925,000 after acquiring an additional 741,285 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 57.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 4,953,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,033,000 after purchasing an additional 78,054 shares during the period. Finally, Northeast Financial Consultants Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 2,361,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,293,000 after purchasing an additional 264,446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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).