Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.42.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSDL. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth approximately $223,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter valued at $377,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $510,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MSDL opened at $20.02 on Friday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 12 month low of $19.05 and a 12 month high of $24.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.96 and its 200 day moving average is $20.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion and a PE ratio of 6.74.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.63. The firm had revenue of $104.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 60.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.34%.

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.