Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Director James Joseph Ritchie Buys 17,857 Shares

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Director James Joseph Ritchie acquired 17,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.71 per share, with a total value of $244,819.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 78,193 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,026.03. This trade represents a 29.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Trading Down 0.5%

NCDL stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.30. The company had a trading volume of 188,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,422. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.53 and a 200 day moving average of $14.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.85. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. has a 12 month low of $12.54 and a 12 month high of $17.59. The company has a market capitalization of $656.90 million, a PE ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.44.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $26.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.60 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 31.57%. On average, equities analysts predict 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.8%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 190.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NCDL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” 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 report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.