Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.42.

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSDL. UBS Group downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at approximately $646,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 64.8% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares during the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock opened at $20.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.48. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $19.05 and a 1-year high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.63. The company had revenue of $104.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 60.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

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.