Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.02% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.38.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Down 1.1 %

MSDL stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.18. The company had a trading volume of 163,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 668,955. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 12 month low of $19.28 and a 12 month high of $24.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.48. 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 (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its 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). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 4.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 11.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000.

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.