Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $22.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.38.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSDL opened at $19.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $19.28 and a fifty-two week high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.02 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.01%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 515.5% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 5,671 shares during the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Company Profile

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.