Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL) Trading Down 5.7% – Here’s What Happened
by Kim Johansen · The Markets DailyBlue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL – Get Free Report) was down 5.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $9.06 and last traded at $8.9250. Approximately 13,058,606 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 27,991,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.46.
Key Headlines Impacting Blue Owl Capital
Here are the key news stories impacting Blue Owl Capital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Blue Owl rejected an unsolicited tender offer for up to 8 million shares from Cox Capital Partners and Saba Capital, saying the deal implied a valuation discount — a management signal that they view the stock as undervalued and are defending long‑term value. Blue Owl (OWL) Refuses Tender Offer, Citing Valuation Discount
- Positive Sentiment: Blue Owl and Blackstone took a minority stake in Atlas, showing deal flow and strategic partnership activity that can add fee and carry opportunities over time. Blackstone, Blue Owl Take Minority Stake In U.S. Private Equity Firm Atlas
- Positive Sentiment: Blue Owl is actively financing AI infrastructure, writing loans to back data‑center and AI deals — a growth theme that could translate into higher asset deployment and fee generation if credit holds. Blue Owl keeps chasing AI infrastructure deals and is writing the loans to back them
- Neutral Sentiment: Blue Owl told investors a recent loan sale “had no hidden incentives,” a management clarification intended to calm investor concerns about deal structuring and disclosure. This helps reduce near‑term governance/transactional uncertainty. Blue Owl tells investors loan sale had no hidden incentives – report
- Negative Sentiment: The Financial Times reported that an investment fund (Glendon) is publicly questioning valuations in Blue Owl’s private‑credit portfolio — a development that raises mark and liquidity scrutiny for the firm’s largest business and is a clear headwind for sentiment. Investment fund questions valuations in Blue Owl’s private credit portfolio
- Negative Sentiment: Analyst and media pieces highlight liquidity fears, fee visibility uncertainty, and a broader pullback in private‑equity/alternative asset stocks — ongoing narratives that could keep OWL’s multiple compressed despite positive deal activity. OWL Stock Slump Explained as Liquidity Fears Meet Fee Visibility
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently commented on OWL. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Owl Capital in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore set a $14.00 price target on Blue Owl Capital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blue Owl Capital in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Blue Owl Capital from $16.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Blue Owl Capital from $16.25 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blue Owl Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on OWL
Blue Owl Capital Stock Performance
The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.19. The company has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.15.
Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Blue Owl Capital had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The business had revenue of $701.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.75 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Blue Owl Capital Inc. will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Blue Owl Capital Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Blue Owl Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 900.00%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Owl Capital
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blue Owl Capital in the 2nd quarter worth $183,294,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blue Owl Capital during the fourth quarter worth $113,782,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Blue Owl Capital by 121.9% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,153,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,493,000 after buying an additional 6,677,610 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Blue Owl Capital by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 90,245,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,272,000 after acquiring an additional 5,029,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blue Owl Capital by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,916,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,833,000 after acquiring an additional 4,968,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.85% of the company’s stock.
About Blue Owl Capital
Blue Owl Capital is a global alternative asset manager that focuses on private credit, direct lending and equity-related strategies for institutional investors. Headquartered in New York, the firm develops and manages a range of private markets products designed to provide capital solutions to middle-market and larger corporate borrowers, as well as liquidity and partnership arrangements with private equity firms and other alternative managers.
Its core activities include direct lending and credit strategies that provide senior, unitranche and other structured loan products to companies across industries.