Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

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

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NCDL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.50 to $14.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.35.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NCDL opened at $12.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $13.51 and its 200 day moving average is $13.73. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $12.43 and a fifty-two week high of $17.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $637.28 million, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.63.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 29.56%.The business had revenue of $17.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.79 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In related news, insider Jason Strife purchased 7,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.40 per share, for a total transaction of $103,046.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 15,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,875.80. This trade represents a 95.56% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth J. Kencel purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.04 per share, for a total transaction of $130,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 58,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,845.68. The trade was a 20.78% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 56,329 shares of company stock valued at $751,066. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 839,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,194,000 after purchasing an additional 106,610 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2,179.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 742,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,902,000 after purchasing an additional 709,727 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 689,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,192,000 after purchasing an additional 196,956 shares during the last quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 9.1% in the third quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 572,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,905,000 after purchasing an additional 47,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the fourth quarter worth about $7,374,000.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns through a diversified portfolio of direct lending instruments. Established in early 2022, NCDL focuses on privately negotiated debt investments in middle-market companies, primarily within the United States. The fund offers investors access to a segment of the credit markets that has historically been less correlated with public debt markets, aiming to capture yield premiums associated with private lending.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, unitranche financings and selectively structured mezzanine debt.