Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives $15.54 Consensus PT from Analysts

by · The Cerbat Gem

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL – Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.5417.

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

Read Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of MSDL stock opened at $15.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.74. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 52 week low of $13.66 and a 52 week high of $19.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $58.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s payout ratio is 178.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 2.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,967,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,640,000 after acquiring an additional 48,248 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 73.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,668,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,500,000 after purchasing an additional 704,394 shares in the last quarter. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $14,691,000 after purchasing an additional 287,808 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 766,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,631,000 after purchasing an additional 181,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 713,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,761,000 after purchasing an additional 148,020 shares during the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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