Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.5417.

MSDL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $16.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Up 0.2%

MSDL stock opened at $15.40 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $13.66 and a 52-week high of $19.94.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $58.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.89 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 9.73%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is 178.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 37.6% in the first quarter. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,691,000 after purchasing an additional 287,808 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 21.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 57,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 9,937 shares in the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 160.0% during the first quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 34.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 13,706 shares in the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company Profile

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE: MSDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide investors with attractive current income and the potential for capital appreciation. The fund primarily invests in senior secured loans and other debt instruments issued by middle-market companies. By focusing on floating-rate structures, it aims to offer a measure of protection against rising interest rates while generating regular cash distributions.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on building a diversified portfolio of direct lending opportunities across a broad range of industries, including healthcare, business services, and industrials.