Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday. The stock traded as low as $12.91 and last traded at $12.8340, with a volume of 33,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSDL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.25 to $15.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Trading Up 1.2%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $88.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.99 million. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund’s payout ratio is currently 260.87%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 37.6% during the first quarter. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,691,000 after acquiring an additional 287,808 shares during the last quarter. TT Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 19.7% in the third quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 411,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,603,000 after acquiring an additional 67,742 shares during the period. Caz Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in the second quarter worth approximately $6,040,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 9.9% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 315,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,775,000 after acquiring an additional 28,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 3.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 133,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980 shares during the last quarter.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE: MSDL) is a business development company that seeks to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation through investments in privately held middle-market companies. The fund is externally managed by MS Capital Partners Adviser Inc, an investment adviser affiliated with Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

MSDL primarily invests in directly originated senior secured loans, including first-lien and unitranche loans, to companies across a range of industries.