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

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.92.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSDL shares. Raymond James downgraded Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $223,000. Cliffwater LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $47,035,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $646,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at $32,973,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

NYSE MSDL opened at $23.07 on Monday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $19.05 and a 1-year high of $24.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion and a P/E ratio of 7.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 62.34%. The firm had revenue of $99.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.65 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.