Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund (NYSE:AIO – Get Rating) and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL – Get Rating) are both miscellaneous companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund.

Analyst Recommendations

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a consensus price target of $27.58, suggesting a potential upside of 18.79%. Given Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is more favorable than Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.2% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Dividends

Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.3%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund pays out 99.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Summary

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund beats Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund

(Get Rating)

The Fund seeks to generate a stable income stream and growth of capital by focusing on one of the most significant long-term secular growth opportunities in markets today. A multi-asset approach based on fundamental research is employed, dynamically allocating to attractive segments of a company's debt and equity in order to offer an attractive risk/reward profile. Innovators and Disruptors — The Fund invests in a growing universe of opportunities across a broad spectrum of technologies and sectors embracing the disruptive power of artificial intelligence and other new technologies. Differentiated Approach — The Fund employs a differentiated, multi-asset approach which strives to create an attractive risk/reward profile through fundamental research and dynamically allocating across public and private investments in convertible securities and equities. Specialist Managers — Co-managed by Allianz Global Investors' Artificial Intelligence and Income & Growth investment teams, the Fund leverages one of the leading global investment managers with deep expertise in technology, multi-asset, and closed-end fund strategies.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

(Get Rating)

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). In addition, the Fund elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a regulated investment company (RIC), as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The fund also intends to continue to comply with the requirements prescribed by the Code in order to maintain tax treatment as a RIC. The fund's investment objectives are to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily through originated loans, equity and other securities, including syndicated loans, of private U.S. companies, specifically small and middle market companies, typically in the form of first lien senior secured and unitranche loans (including first out/last out loans), and to a lesser extent, second lien, third lien, unsecured and subordinated loans and other debt and equity securities.

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