Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.4375.

NCDL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.50 to $14.75 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock opened at $12.68 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $626.31 million, a PE ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.51. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 12-month low of $11.97 and a 12-month high of $17.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.29.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.79 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 9.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 1.6 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, July 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.4%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.00%.

Insider Activity at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In related news, CAO Marissa Hassen purchased 3,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.21 per share, for a total transaction of $49,960.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,193.80. The trade was a 63.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Mccally acquired 7,500 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.27 per share, for a total transaction of $99,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 15,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,301.15. This trade represents a 96.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 16,282 shares of company stock worth $215,485 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 689,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,192,000 after purchasing an additional 196,956 shares during the period. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the fourth quarter worth $7,374,000. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the fourth quarter worth $1,271,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 479,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,395,000 after buying an additional 60,786 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 454.3% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 150,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after buying an additional 123,327 shares during the period.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns through a diversified portfolio of direct lending instruments. Established in early 2022, NCDL focuses on privately negotiated debt investments in middle-market companies, primarily within the United States. The fund offers investors access to a segment of the credit markets that has historically been less correlated with public debt markets, aiming to capture yield premiums associated with private lending.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, unitranche financings and selectively structured mezzanine debt.