Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Director Buys $244,819.47 in Stock

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Director James Joseph Ritchie bought 17,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.71 per share, with a total value of $244,819.47. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 78,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,072,026.03. This represents a 29.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE NCDL traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $13.30. The stock had a trading volume of 188,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,422. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.18. The stock has a market cap of $656.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.85. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. has a 52-week low of $12.54 and a 52-week high of $17.59.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $26.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.60 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 31.57%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.92%.

Institutional Trading of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 181.2% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 41,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 26,885 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2,179.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 742,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,902,000 after purchasing an additional 709,727 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the period. VARCOV Co. purchased a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,000. Finally, Almitas Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $936,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NCDL shares. Zacks Research raised Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.40.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns through a diversified portfolio of direct lending instruments. Established in early 2022, NCDL focuses on privately negotiated debt investments in middle-market companies, primarily within the United States. The fund offers investors access to a segment of the credit markets that has historically been less correlated with public debt markets, aiming to capture yield premiums associated with private lending.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, unitranche financings and selectively structured mezzanine debt.