Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Hits New 52-Week High at $32.65

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.21. The company has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 53.50% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The company had revenue of $304.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.58 million. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.70%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BXSL. Royal Harbor Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the third quarter valued at about $7,288,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 549,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,193,000 after buying an additional 253,504 shares during the period. Pathstone Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the third quarter valued at about $5,512,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 14.9% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,540,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,987,000 after buying an additional 200,109 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $54,740,000. 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).