Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

NCDL has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.40.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

NYSE:NCDL opened at $13.15 on Tuesday. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 12 month low of $12.54 and a 12 month high of $17.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $649.43 million, a PE ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.17.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 31.57%.The company had revenue of $26.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.60 million. On average, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid 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 is Tuesday, March 31st. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.40%.

Insider Activity at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In other news, Director James Joseph Ritchie acquired 17,857 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.71 per share, for a total transaction of $244,819.47. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 78,193 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,026.03. This represents a 29.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Shaul Vichness acquired 5,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $65,650.00. Following the purchase, the treasurer owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,250. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired a total of 47,547 shares of company stock valued at $635,105 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NCDL. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 27,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 4.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 16.4% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period.

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.