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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.20.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSDL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $19.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

NYSE:MSDL opened at $19.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week high of $24.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.44.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.31%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSDL. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,000.

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.