Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $17.59 and last traded at $18.78, with a volume of 1132260 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSDL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.10.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 5.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.45. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.02 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is presently 82.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at about $103,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 515.5% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 5,671 shares in the last quarter.

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.