Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.75.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NCDL. UBS Group reduced their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NCDL opened at $13.46 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.84. The stock has a market cap of $664.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a one year low of $13.03 and a one year high of $18.01.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 36.83% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $51.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.00 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In other news, Director Kenneth M. Miranda acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.10 per share, for a total transaction of $28,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 27,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $380,700. The trade was a 8.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth J. Kencel acquired 20,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.22 per share, with a total value of $284,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 48,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,223.74. The trade was a 71.13% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased 27,000 shares of company stock valued at $383,600 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $773,000. GraniteShares Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 6.7% in the second quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 167,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 10,439 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 13.7% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 418,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,776,000 after acquiring an additional 50,507 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 100.0% in the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 32,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 16,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlatl Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 2nd quarter worth $173,000.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Company Profile

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.