Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.4375.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NCDL shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research cut Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. 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 report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.50 to $14.75 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Marissa Hassen acquired 3,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.21 per share, for a total transaction of $49,960.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer owned 9,780 shares in the company, valued at $129,193.80. This trade represents a 63.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Shaul Vichness bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.20 per share, for a total transaction of $66,000.00. Following the acquisition, the treasurer owned 30,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,306. This represents a 19.45% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 16,282 shares of company stock worth $215,485. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NCDL. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 0.7% in the third quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 114,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 3.2% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 26,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 190.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 18,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Price Performance

NYSE NCDL opened at $12.70 on Thursday. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $11.97 and a 1 year high of $17.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $627.45 million, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.13 and its 200 day moving average is $13.41.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.79 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 29.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.00%.

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.