Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 (NYSE:MSDL)

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share on Friday, April 24th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE MSDL traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.93. 874,601 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 836,473. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a one year low of $14.64 and a one year high of $20.90.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 35.92% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The business had revenue of $49.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.30 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSDL. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,967,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,640,000 after acquiring an additional 48,248 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 3.9% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 1,829,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,426,000 after buying an additional 68,014 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 73.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,668,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,500,000 after buying an additional 704,394 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 766,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,631,000 after acquiring an additional 181,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 713,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,761,000 after acquiring an additional 148,020 shares during the period.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Company Profile

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE: MSDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide investors with attractive current income and the potential for capital appreciation. The fund primarily invests in senior secured loans and other debt instruments issued by middle-market companies. By focusing on floating-rate structures, it aims to offer a measure of protection against rising interest rates while generating regular cash distributions.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on building a diversified portfolio of direct lending opportunities across a broad range of industries, including healthcare, business services, and industrials.