Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.75.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Price Performance

NCDL stock opened at $14.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.47 and a 200-day moving average of $15.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $707.96 million, a P/E ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 0.38. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 12 month low of $13.16 and a 12 month high of $18.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $51.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.00 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 36.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In related news, CEO Kenneth J. Kencel bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.22 per share, with a total value of $284,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 48,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $684,223.74. The trade was a 71.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer Shaul Vichness purchased 5,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.85 per share, for a total transaction of $74,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $222,750. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NCDL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at about $8,292,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 498,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,073,000 after buying an additional 157,763 shares during the last quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 42.7% during the first quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,490,000 after buying an additional 149,611 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 13.7% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 418,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,776,000 after acquiring an additional 50,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the second quarter worth $773,000.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. is a specialty finance company focused primarily on investing in senior secured loans to private equity-owned U.S. middle market companies. It has elected to be regulated as a business development company. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. is based in NEW YORK.