Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. $NCDL Shares Purchased by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 479,357 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,786 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.97% of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending worth $6,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 190.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at approximately $85,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Truist Financial decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Treasurer Shaul Vichness acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $65,650.00. Following the acquisition, the treasurer directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,250. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Strife acquired 7,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.40 per share, with a total value of $103,046.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,737 shares in the company, valued at $210,875.80. The trade was a 95.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 47,547 shares of company stock worth $635,105 over the last three months. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock opened at $12.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $630.27 million, a PE ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.44. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. has a one year low of $12.54 and a one year high of $17.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.85.

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

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.40%.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending 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.