Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) has a consensus “Hold” rating from seven analysts—six holds and one buy—with an average 12-month price target of $15.625.
• Institutional investors have generally increased their positions, including UBS Group, RiverNorth Capital Management, and Toronto-Dominion Bank, while recent analyst targets range from $14.50 to $16.25.
• MSDL reported quarterly EPS of $0.45, in line with estimates, and declared a $0.45 quarterly dividend. The annualized payout of $1.80 represents an 11.8% yield, though its payout ratio is elevated at 260.87%.

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.6250.

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSDL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.50 to $16.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $16.00 to $16.25 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS Group AG increased its position in 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. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 37.6% during the first quarter. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,691,000 after acquiring an additional 287,808 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 26.2% during the fourth 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. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund during the fourth quarter valued at $10,719,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 558,113 shares of the company's stock worth $9,198,000 after acquiring an additional 53,051 shares during the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Stock Down 1.5%

MSDL stock opened at $15.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03 and a beta of 0.53. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a 1-year low of $13.66 and a 1-year high of $18.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $59.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.99 million. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.8%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 260.87%.

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.

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