Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Short Interest Update

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 47.1% from the January 31st total of 1,400,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock traded down $0.23 on Monday, hitting $33.48. 849,027 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,049,816. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.01 and its 200 day moving average is $31.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.43. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $27.76 and a 52-week high of $34.64.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $353.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $346.52 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 53.91% and a return on equity of 13.15%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.20%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $33.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Compass Point dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $32.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.79.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 52,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 209,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,115 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,533,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,548,000 after purchasing an additional 151,633 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).