Blue Owl Capital price target lowered to $17 from $24 at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski lowered the firm’s price target on Blue Owl Capital (OWL) to $17 from $24 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. Despite what in the firm’s view has been a strong performance in terms of the credit quality of its business development companies, Blue Owl seems to have become a magnet for bad press in recent weeks. Oppenheimer thinks a lot of this press has been misleading and unfair, and it reminds the firm of the exaggerated fears concerning commercial banks in the latter half of 2023. But the bad press has been relentless, and it strikes Oppenheimer that it is likely to have an adverse impact on the company’s near-term fundraising trends and its valuation.