Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Short Interest Up 19.5% in March

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,450,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the February 29th total of 2,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 997,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 1.2 %

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock opened at $30.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.64 and its 200 day moving average is $28.44. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $31.71.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $304.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.58 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.50 to $30.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James restated 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $222,243,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $17,414,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 9,764.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 769,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,178,000 after acquiring an additional 761,464 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,598,000 after acquiring an additional 550,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 9,106.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 436,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,165,000 after acquiring an additional 431,568 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).