Blackrock Health Sciences Trust

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust is a closed-end investment fund. Its investment objective is to provide total return through a combination of current income, current gains and long-term capital appreciation. The company was founded on March 31, 2005 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.

abrdn Healthcare Investors 

Not many people know this, but if you really want to diversify—deftly balancing and rebalancing to maximize (and protect) your gains, you need to invest in closed-end funds (CEFs).

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $BBN--Today, BlackRock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust (NYSE: BCX), BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust (NYSE: BDJ), BlackRock Energy and Resources Trust (NYSE: BGR), BlackRock Enhanced International Dividend Trust (NYSE: BGY), BlackRock Health Sciences Trust (NYSE: BME), BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust (NYSE: BMEZ), BlackRock Enhanced Global Dividend Trust (NYSE: BOE), BlackRock Utilities, Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust (NYSE: BUI), Bla.

Certain BlackRock Closed-End Funds Announce Estimated Sources of Distributions

Last time around, we had rated BlackRock Health Sciences Trust as a hold. The fund has not delivered much since then, but the sector has gotten really oversold. We go over the thesis for this one today and tell you why we think its is a Buy.

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This month, I've added to 11 different positions, but most of these were related to repurchases after the BlackRock tender offers. While I added to 11 different positions, these were all positions I had already held previously, so there were no new positions this month. In fact, I sold out of a fund to consolidate my holdings and reduce the number of funds held, as I did last month as well.

11 Closed-End Fund Buys In The Month Of November 2024

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust offers exposure to healthcare companies and employs a covered call strategy to generate option premiums to help support the distribution. The latest tender offer measurement period for BlackRock discount management programs has come to a close, and BME made the list, but it was close this time. The fund's 6.15% distribution yield might not be the most exciting, but it is one of the most consistent and steady you'll find in the CEF space.

BME: Defensive Healthcare Exposure With A Tender Offer Opportunity

BME has delivered solid long-term returns since its 2005 launch, earning positive ratings from Seeking Alpha analysts, with most recent articles rating it a Buy or Strong Buy. The trust has a relatively high expense ratio and has experienced significant volatility related to trading levels relative to NAV. BlackRock recently announced a tender offer that will allow 2.5% of the fund's units to be repurchased at 98% of NAV.

BME: Discount To NAV But High Fees And Volatility

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The broader equity market saw declines in early August but ended near all-time highs to finish off the month. I put some capital to work this month at the low, but not as much as I had planned initially, as the market swiftly recovered. Most of the moves this month were corporate action-driven events, primarily the BlackRock tender offers, as we finished up the first measurement period.

9 Closed-End Fund Buys In The Month Of August 2024

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $BGY--The BlackRock closed-end funds (the “Funds”) listed below announced today the expiration and preliminary results of each Fund's tender offer (each, a “Tender Offer”) for up to 2.5% of its outstanding common shares (the “Shares”). Each Tender Offer commenced on July 18, 2024 and expired at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on August 19, 2024. Based on preliminary information, the number of Shares properly tendered for each Fund and not withdrawn is noted in the table below. Fund.

Certain BlackRock Funds Announce Expiration and Preliminary Results of Tender Offers: BMEZ, BME, BGY

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Closed-end funds overall have seen discounts narrow since the start of the year, but opportunities still exist in certain areas of the market. With increased market volatility more recently, that may lead to discounts widening back out, which could create even more opportunities in this structure. I hold 42 positions in my CEF portfolio, with the top 10 positions making up 37.40% of the portfolio—here's a review of those top 10 names.

My Top 10 Closed-End Fund Holdings: August 2024

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust (BME) offers exposure to the healthcare space while also utilizing a covered call strategy. BME's discount has narrowed since our last update but remains attractive, with the potential for attractive returns going forward. BME's distribution yield may be more modest than other CEFs, but that has helped it boast of never having to cut the regular distribution and helped it provide some capital.

BME: An Attractive Discount On This Healthcare CEF

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust trades at an attractive discount to net asset value. The dividend yield of 6.1% remains supported from net investment income. Some weakness revolves around the use of return of capital, however. Future interest rate cuts may serve as a price catalyst. Inflation continues to cool while the unemployment rate ticks upward.

BME: Future Interest Rate Cuts May Be A Catalyst

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust is a healthcare sector-specific closed-end fund that invests in a fairly diversified portfolio of common stocks in the healthcare sector. It currently provides a reasonable yield of 6.3% plus an attractive discount of close to -8% (below NAV). The BME closed-end fund has a very decent long-term record of nearly 19 years, matching and even exceeding the performance of the S&P 500. However, the recent near and midterm performance has been lackluster.

BME: Quality Healthcare Fund With 6% Income And An Attractive Discount

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Reaves Utility Income Fund

Closed-end funds tend to cut their payouts over time due to negative consequences of leverage during market crashes, leading to potential permanent capital destruction. Today, we are looking to revisit the six funds that have inceptions prior to the 2008/09 Global Financial Crisis that have still never cut their regular distributions. A long history of no-cuts can be important for income-focused investors, but we also examine coverage and valuations to determine whether they are worth exploring further.

Closed-End Funds: 2024 Revisit Of Funds That Never Cut Distributions With Inception Pre-2008

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April turned out to be a little more exciting, with the broader equity market pulling back. This helped to create some added volatility that saw discounts widen in some closed-end funds. Every month I put some money to work in an effort to grow my monthly cash flow over time.

5 Closed-End Fund Buys In The Month Of April 2024

BlackRock Health Sciences is trading at a discount not seen since the Global Financial Crisis, creating a potentially strong opportunity at this time. BME is a healthcare-focused fund with a stable underlying portfolio that employs a covered call writing strategy. BME's distribution has never been cut since its inception going back to 2005, and despite some softer performance, it doesn't look at risk either.

BME: Discount Widens Substantially Creating An Opportunity

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust is a diversified closed-end fund that focuses on the healthcare sector, offering a 6.35% dividend yield. BME currently trades at a historical discount to NAV of nearly -8%. The fund presents an attractive opportunity to capitalize on the projected growth of the healthcare industry and increased medical spending.

BME: Trading At A Historical Discount To NAV

abrdn World Healthcare Fund 

We had contrasting outlooks on the BlackRock Health Sciences Trust and abrdn World Healthcare Fund closed-end funds on our last coverage, with BME getting a "Buy" and THW getting a "Goodbye". BME has outperformed THW by 10% in total returns since then. We update our outlook and explain why one of these two gets a downgrade.

BME Vs. THW: A Distribution Cut Should Widen The Performance Gap

PIMCO Dynamic Income Opportunities Fund

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund

Cohen & Steers Tax-Adv Pref Secs and Inc Fund

Cohen & Steers Quality Income Realty Fund

I have a total of 41 positions in my closed-end fund portfolio, with the top ten positions making up 36.52% of the portfolio. We have four new names making their way to my top ten list since the prior update, but three were already positions that have simply grown to be larger allocations. Closed-end funds overall look to be a place of opportunity as discounts remain historically wide across both equity and fixed-income-focused funds.

My Top 10 Closed-End Fund Holdings: December 2023

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust aims to generate total returns through a combination of current income and long-term capital appreciation. BME employs a covered call strategy, resulting in a high dividend yield of 6.7% that has not been cut since switching to a monthly distribution. The fund's portfolio consists of profitable and large-cap companies in the health sciences sector.

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September was the worst month for equities in 2023, but that's simply creating buying opportunities for the long-term investor. I added to four different positions in my CEF portfolio this month, though they are all familiar names that I've already owned. The theme this month was once again avoiding taking on leveraged funds, and none of the four funds take on any leverage in the form of borrowings.

4 Closed-End Fund Buys In The Month Of September 2023

BlackRock Health Sciences is trading at an attractive discount, creating a potential opportunity for income investors. BME employs a covered call writing strategy and has a history of steady monthly distributions. The fund's portfolio is focused on large and stable healthcare companies, providing defensive characteristics in volatile markets.

BME: A Discounted Opportunity In The Healthcare Space

BlackRock Health Sciences Trust is a CEF focusing on healthcare, offering a 6.5% yield and a strong performance record, even beating S&P 500 in total returns since its inception. The fund trades stocks and writes covered calls, and is currently trading at a rare -4.3% discount against its NAV; its dividends have remained fairly flat despite its holdings being known as dividend growers. BME is considered a good fund with an above-average performance and supports a dividend yield close to 7%, but investors should not expect dividends to rise significantly in.

BME Offers A Good Mix Of High Yield And Market-Beating Total Returns

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For income investors, closed-end funds remain an attractive investment class that covers a variety of asset classes and promises high distributions and reasonable total returns. Closed-end funds, or CEFs, are generally characterized by higher volatility and deeper drawdowns than the broader market. For these reasons, they are not suited for everyone. In this monthly series, we highlight five CEFs that have solid track records, pay high distributions, and are offering "excess" discounts. We try to separate the wheat from the chaff using our filtering process to select just five CEFs every month from around 500 closed-end funds.

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News for Blackrock Health Sciences Trust ETF (BME)