Insider Buying: Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Director Buys 3,000 Shares of Stock

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Director Kenneth Miranda bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.83 per share, for a total transaction of $38,490.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $384,900. This represents a 11.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Down 0.1%

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 211,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,018. The company has a market cap of $658.33 million, a P/E ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.27. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $12.54 and a fifty-two week high of $17.59.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $26.36 million for 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.8%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 109.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NCDL. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 181.2% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 41,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 26,885 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2,179.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 742,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,902,000 after acquiring an additional 709,727 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the period. VARCOV Co. acquired a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $371,000. Finally, Almitas Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the fourth quarter valued at $936,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NCDL shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.40.

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.