Analysts Set Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) PT at $15.75

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.75.

NCDL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NCDL opened at $14.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $702.33 million, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.53. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $13.16 and a 52 week high of $18.01.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.03). Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 36.83% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The company had revenue of $51.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.00 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In related news, Treasurer Shaul Vichness bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.20 per share, for a total transaction of $71,000.00. Following the purchase, the treasurer owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth J. Kencel purchased 20,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.22 per share, with a total value of $284,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 48,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,223.74. This trade represents a 71.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 30,000 shares of company stock worth $429,650 over the last ninety days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the first quarter valued at about $8,292,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 498,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,073,000 after purchasing an additional 157,763 shares during the period. Callodine Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,490,000 after purchasing an additional 149,611 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,498,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 136,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 53,342 shares during the period.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. is a specialty finance company focused primarily on investing in senior secured loans to private equity-owned U.S. middle market companies. It has elected to be regulated as a business development company. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. is based in NEW YORK.