Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) shares hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $19.21 and last traded at $19.25, with a volume of 389501 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MSDL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.38.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Down 6.7 %

The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 26,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at $494,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth about $2,715,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 257.1% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 52,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 37,970 shares during the period.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Company Profile

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.