Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Downgraded by UBS Group to “Neutral”

UBS Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $23.50 target price on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James cut Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.92.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

MSDL opened at $22.50 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $19.05 and a fifty-two week high of $24.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.63. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 62.34% and a return on equity of 12.87%. The firm had revenue of $99.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.65 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter worth approximately $223,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the first quarter worth $223,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the first quarter worth $646,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 64.8% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 1st quarter valued at $32,973,000.

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.