Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.92.

Several research firms have commented on MSDL. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.50 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James cut shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at approximately $646,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,973,000. Finally, Cliffwater LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,035,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSDL opened at $22.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $19.05 and a fifty-two week high of $23.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.81. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion and a PE ratio of 7.29.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 62.34% and a return on equity of 12.87%. The business had revenue of $99.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.65 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.