Insider Buying: Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) CEO Purchases $130,400.00 in Stock

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) CEO Kenneth Kencel acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.04 per share, for a total transaction of $130,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 58,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $757,845.68. The trade was a 20.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NCDL opened at $13.20 on Friday. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. has a 52-week low of $12.54 and a 52-week high of $17.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.23. The company has a market capitalization of $651.95 million, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.44.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last announced its quarterly 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. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 31.57% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $26.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.60 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company 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 yield of 10.9%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 137.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 13.7% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 418,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,776,000 after buying an additional 50,507 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at $773,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 32,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 16,408 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $604,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.40.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple insiders are buying stock — including CEO Kenneth J. Kencel (10,000 shares at ~$13.04), Director Kenneth Miranda (3,000 shares at $12.83), Jason Strife (7,690 shares at $13.40), VP John McCally (2,000 shares at $13.30) and Director Mat Linett (2,000 shares at $13.05) — signaling management confidence at current levels. SEC Filing (Jason Strife)
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional investors have been active: Invesco materially increased its stake in the 4Q, and other funds (Virtu, NewEdge, VARCOV, Almitas) adjusted positions — a sign of interest from larger holders. MarketBeat: Insider & institutional details
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly EPS marginally beat (reported $0.44 vs. $0.43 est.), which is supportive for income investors, but the beat was slight and leaves forward guidance/credit performance the focus area. Earnings summary
• Neutral Sentiment: The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 (annualized $1.44; ~10.9% yield). While yield is attractive to income buyers, the fund’s payout ratio is high (137%), making the dividend’s sustainability an open question. Dividend & DPR details
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts cut price targets and trimmed expectations this week (Wells Fargo to $13.00; Truist lowered its prior target and reduced expectations; KBW trimmed its target) — increasing near‑term selling pressure and lowering the stock’s perceived upside. Wells Fargo price target cut Truist note
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue in the quarter materially missed consensus ($26.36M reported vs. ~$49.6M expected), suggesting weaker origination/fee activity or timing effects — a key negative for a credit-focused closed‑end fund. Quarterly revenue miss
• Negative Sentiment: High dividend payout ratio (137%) and headlines indicating a dividend cut or reset increase uncertainty around future distributions — a central driver for valuation of yield‑focused CEFs. Dividend concerns

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.