Short Interest in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Increases By 7.1%

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the August 31st total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 940,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXSL opened at $29.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 0.44. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12 month low of $25.83 and a 12 month high of $32.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.76.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.01). Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 58.08% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The firm had revenue of $327.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.53%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BXSL. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 549,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,193,000 after purchasing an additional 253,504 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 290,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,038,000 after purchasing an additional 69,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 82.9% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 16,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BXSL. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $31.50 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.80.

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).