Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Short Interest Up 14.1% in May

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,350,000 shares, a growth of 14.1% from the May 15th total of 2,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 860,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America raised Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BXSL. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1,159.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Security National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of BXSL stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.33. The company had a trading volume of 765,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,300. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.84. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a one year low of $25.83 and a one year high of $32.67. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 0.45.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.05). Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 55.54% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company had revenue of $303.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.08 million. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is 82.13%.

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).