Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Stock Price

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $29.00 to $28.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.80% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BXSL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Bank of America cut their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.13.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

NYSE:BXSL opened at $24.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.80. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $23.30 and a 1-year high of $33.73.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $196.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.59 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 11.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 139.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 10,696 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 61.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 341,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,513,000 after acquiring an additional 129,892 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter valued at about $1,125,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 109.6% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.