Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 720,773 shares, a growth of 19.1% from the February 26th total of 605,150 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 245,368 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In related news, Director Mat Linett purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.05 per share, for a total transaction of $26,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,263.25. This represents a 23.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer Shaul Vichness purchased 5,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $65,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the treasurer owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,250. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 47,547 shares of company stock valued at $635,105. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the second quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 2nd quarter worth $152,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 36,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 5,391 shares during the last quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 525,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,500,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NCDL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.40.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NCDL stock opened at $12.68 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.89. The company has a market capitalization of $626.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $12.43 and a 1-year high of $17.27.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $26.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.60 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 31.57%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.4%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.92%.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Company Profile

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.