Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Reaches New 1-Year High at $23.06

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $23.06 and last traded at $23.06, with a volume of 8465 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSDL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Monday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion and a PE ratio of 7.38.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 1st. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 62.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $100.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.34 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Monday, November 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

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.