Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $15.50 According to Analysts

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.25 to $15.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSDL. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 37.6% in the first quarter. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,691,000 after buying an additional 287,808 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,719,000. Caz Investments LP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,040,000. TT Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 302,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,993,000 after acquiring an additional 5,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,803,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Price Performance

MSDL opened at $13.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.03. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a twelve month low of $13.43 and a twelve month high of $17.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 0.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $88.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.99 million. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.3%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is 260.87%.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE: MSDL) is a business development company that seeks to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation through investments in privately held middle-market companies. The fund is externally managed by MS Capital Partners Adviser Inc, an investment adviser affiliated with Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

MSDL primarily invests in directly originated senior secured loans, including first-lien and unitranche loans, to companies across a range of industries.