Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Reaches New 1-Year High at $32.65

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $32.65 and last traded at $32.65, with a volume of 304316 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BXSL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.50 to $30.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $31.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.92.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.12. The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 0.47.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $304.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.58 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 53.50% and a return on equity of 14.44%. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.48%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 4.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 23,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 20.5% during the third quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 10,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 127.3% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 10,948 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 24.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 301,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,256,000 after purchasing an additional 59,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 169,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,503 shares during the last quarter. 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).