Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Short Interest Update

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 264,000 shares, a growth of 80.6% from the March 15th total of 146,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 699,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MSDL traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.27. The company had a trading volume of 374,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 675,392. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 0.44. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $24.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $20.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.06). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. The company had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.38%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSDL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 4.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at $295,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $1,555,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth $271,000.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.