Brokerages Set Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Target Price at $15.35

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.35.

NCDL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased 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. 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Truist Financial decreased 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 report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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, Zacks Research lowered shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th.

Insider Activity

In other Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending news, Director James Joseph Ritchie bought 17,857 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.71 per share, with a total value of $244,819.47. Following the purchase, the director owned 78,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,072,026.03. This trade represents a 29.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer Shaul Vichness bought 5,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $65,650.00. Following the purchase, the treasurer directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,250. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 31,639 shares of company stock valued at $426,430. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 839,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,194,000 after purchasing an additional 106,610 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2,179.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 196,956 shares during the last quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 572,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,905,000 after purchasing an additional 47,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,374,000.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:NCDL opened at $12.78 on Friday. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 12 month low of $12.43 and a 12 month high of $17.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.67. The firm has a market cap of $631.06 million, a P/E ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.50.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 29.56%.The company had revenue of $17.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.79 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending 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, July 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.00%.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

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.