Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $11.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.72 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 24.44% and a return on equity of 9.53%.

Here are the key takeaways from Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s conference call:

• Net investment income of $0.41 per share covered the $0.36 base dividend, and the board declared a third-quarter distribution of $0.38 per share, including a $0.02 supplemental payment.
• NAV declined 1.8% to $17.19 per share, driven by realized and unrealized losses tied primarily to amendments involving two underperforming investments. Four additional companies were placed on non-accrual, bringing non-accruals to 2.7% of investments at cost and 1.5% at fair value.
• NCDL’s gross originations fell sharply to $12.1 million from $82.9 million in the prior quarter as management managed leverage and private-equity deal activity slowed, although executives said transaction activity improved in June and July.
• NCDL launched a joint venture with an institutional investor, initially contributing a $150 million portfolio and targeting approximately $300 million of assets within 12 months. Management expects the vehicle’s leverage and senior-loan strategy to generate accretive returns and expand deployment capacity.
• The portfolio remained highly diversified across 244 companies, with 89.6% allocated to first-lien loans and only 2.4% exposure to software, while leverage was 1.29x gross and interest coverage was 2.5x.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock opened at $12.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $635.16 million, a P/E ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.51. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $11.97 and a fifty-two week high of $16.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.18.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.2%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 120.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Mccally purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.27 per share, with a total value of $99,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 15,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,301.15. This represents a 96.84% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marissa Hassen purchased 3,782 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.21 per share, with a total value of $49,960.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,780 shares in the company, valued at $129,193.80. The trade was a 63.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 16,282 shares of company stock valued at $215,485 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NCDL. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 3.2% in the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 26,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 190.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 11.4% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 18,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NCDL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research raised Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.50 to $14.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.44.

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.