Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Stock Price Down 0.5%

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $21.16 and last traded at $21.66. Approximately 36,887 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 71,394 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSDL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.50 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion and a PE ratio of 6.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.47.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 1st. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $100.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.34 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 62.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

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.