Brokerages Set Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) PT at $15.40

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.40.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NCDL shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Price Performance

NCDL opened at $13.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $645.28 million, a P/E ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.04. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a one year low of $12.54 and a one year high of $17.59.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $26.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.60 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 31.57% and a return on equity of 10.48%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 137.40%.

Insider Activity at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In related news, insider Jason Strife purchased 7,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.40 per share, with a total value of $103,046.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 15,737 shares in the company, valued at $210,875.80. This trade represents a 95.56% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mat Linett purchased 2,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.05 per share, for a total transaction of $26,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,365 shares in the company, valued at $135,263.25. The trade was a 23.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 47,547 shares of company stock worth $635,105. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $5,776,000 after purchasing an additional 50,507 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the second quarter worth $773,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at $604,000. Callodine Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 572,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,905,000 after buying an additional 47,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter.

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.