Blackrock Debt Strategies Fund Inc. Common Stock (DSU)

FairStock Score: 61/100 — STEADY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I view BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund as a closed-end fund, not an operating business. It invests in lower-rated U.S. corporate debt and loans, so its fortunes depend on credit markets and BlackRock's management. At the 2026-10-13 close of $8.78, the market cap is $619.8 million. FairStock's calculations show a P/E of 19.95, P/B of 0.91, ROE of 4.30%, and ROCE of 3.98%. Those are not wonderful economics. The fund has modest debt/equity of 0.18, and beta is 0.49, so it has been less volatile than the broad market. The 12.99% dividend yield is eye-catching, but at a P/E near 20 the implied earnings yield is only about 5%, so distribution coverage is a real question. Valuation is mixed: P/B below one and a Graham Number of $9.75 give a margin of safety of 9.95% versus the close, but the earnings multiple is not cheap. The Piotroski F-Score of 1/9 and Altman Z-Score of 2.25 suggest weak financial signals and some distress risk. The price sits at the bottom of its $8.78-$10.40 52-week range. There is no Lynch category because only 0 years of filed results are available, so I have no reliable long-term growth record to judge. Graham would ask for protection of principal and a discount to intrinsic value. Here the discount to book is small, the income yield is high, and the credit quality of the underlying loans is the key risk.

In plain English: BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund is a closed-end fund that invests in lower-rated U.S. corporate debt and loans. Its recent numbers look weak on profitability and financial strength, and the price is at the bottom of its 52-week range. The price looks close to fair, maybe slightly cheap compared with its assets, but not clearly cheap compared with its earnings.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer