Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.10.

A number of research firms have commented on MSDL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock opened at $18.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 0.44.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 82.30%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter worth $84,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at $103,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 515.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 5,671 shares in the last quarter.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

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.