Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $11.94 and last traded at $12.0130, with a volume of 17484 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NCDL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. 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. UBS Group raised Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.75 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.62.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Trading Down 0.1%

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $595.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 0.52.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 24.44% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $11.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.72 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 151.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 155,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,046 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 53,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 8,932 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2.9% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 442,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,498,000 after buying an additional 12,646 shares during the last quarter. Nottingham Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at about $308,000. Finally, NewGen Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the first quarter valued at approximately $355,000.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to privately owned, middle-market companies. The company seeks to generate income primarily through investments in senior secured loans and other debt securities, while also pursuing capital appreciation through selected equity and equity-related investments.

Its portfolio generally consists of direct investments in companies operating across a range of industries, with an emphasis on established businesses that may require financing for acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives, or other corporate purposes.