Shaul Vichness Purchases 5,000 Shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Stock

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Treasurer Shaul Vichness purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $65,650.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at $328,250. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Up 0.7%

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock opened at $13.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $652.74 million, a P/E ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. has a twelve month low of $12.54 and a twelve month high of $17.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.15.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 31.57%.The firm had revenue of $26.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.60 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NCDL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NCDL. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2,179.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 742,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,902,000 after purchasing an additional 709,727 shares in the last quarter. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,374,000. Ares Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 188.3% during the 4th quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 360,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,813,000 after buying an additional 235,674 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 213.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 339,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,535,000 after buying an additional 231,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 689,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,192,000 after buying an additional 196,956 shares in the last quarter.

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.