Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives $15.62 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.6250.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSDL shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MSDL stock opened at $15.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 0.53. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $13.66 and a 1-year high of $18.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.31 and a 200 day moving average of $15.15.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $59.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.99 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.7%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio is presently 260.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSDL. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,310,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 9.9% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 315,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,775,000 after purchasing an additional 28,418 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 21.1% in the 1st 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 during the period.

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.