Oppenheimer upgrades Blackstone to outperform

Oppenheimer on Thursday upgraded Blackstone Inc. (BX) outperform from perform and reiterated recommendations on KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR), Apollo Global Management Inc. (APO), Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) , GSM Grosvenor Inc. (GCMG) and P10 Inc. (PX). Analyst Chris Kotowski said Blackstone stock is now down about 43% from its high in November of 2021, even as its fee-paying assets under management has risen 36% since then. "We have long admired Blackstone as an industry leader with unquestionably the broadest, most diversified platform and a real distinguishing feature in its real estate business, but have been somewhat restrained by the big premium it carried versus others in the group," Kotowski said. "Who knows if this is the perfect entry point, but it looks pretty darn good to us." Shares of Blackstone Group are up 11.4% in 2023, compared to a 6.6% rise by the S&P 500 [s: spx].

-Steve Gelsi

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04-13-23 0857ET

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