Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (MSDL) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $19.46 to $19.73
• 50-Day Range: $17.80 to $20.31
• 52-Week Range: $17.59 to $24.18
• Volume: 281,190 shs
• Average Volume: 582,900 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.73 billion
• P/E Ratio: 7.70
• Dividend Yield: 10.19%
• Price Target: $20.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending scored higher than 51% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 1165th out of 1,828 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.20, and is based on 1 buy rating, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has been the subject of 5 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: -7.42%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending are expected to decrease by -7.42% in the coming year, from $2.56 to $2.37 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is 7.71, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 24.70.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is 7.71, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 22.98.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a P/B Ratio of 1.01. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.16% of the float of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 0.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has recently decreased by 17.97%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Leadership

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 10.19%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is 91.74%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will have a dividend payout ratio of 84.39% in the coming year. This indicates that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.16% of the float of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 0.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has recently decreased by 17.97%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.65

News Sentiment

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a news sentiment score of 1.65. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 1.01 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 4 news articles for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 3 people have searched for MSDL on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -25% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.21% of the stock of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is held by insiders.

MSDL Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have MSDL shares performed this year?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's stock was trading at $20.66 at the beginning of 2025. Since then, MSDL stock has decreased by 4.8% and is now trading at $19.67.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's earnings last quarter?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May, 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $101.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $102.86 million. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 12.69%.

Who are Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending include Sfmg LLC (0.29%), Cliffwater LLC (0.28%), Muzinich & Co. Inc. (0.24%) and Raymond James Financial Inc. (0.24%).
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending?

Shares of MSDL stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending investors own include ONEOK (OKE), Chevron (CVX), DOW (DOW), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), 3M (MMM), Altria Group (MO) and Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 4/25 Dividend: 3/31/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 4/25 Dividend: 3/31/2025
• Dividend Payable: 4/25/2025
• Last Earnings: 5/08/2025
• Today: 6/09/2025
• Record date for 7/25 Dividend: 6/30/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 7/25 Dividend: 6/30/2025
• Dividend Payable: 7/25/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 8/06/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Holding & other investment offices
• Sub-Industry: N/A
• Current Symbol: NYSE:MSDL
• Previous Symbol: NYSE:MSDL
• CIK: 1782524
• Web: www.msdl.com
• Phone: 212-761-4000
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: N/A
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $20.00
• High Stock Price Target: $21.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $19.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +1.7%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.20
• Research Coverage: 5 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $2.18
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 7.71
• Forward P/E Ratio: 7.68
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $231.01 million
• Net Margins: 54.89%
• Pretax Margin: 55.08%
• Return on Equity: 12.69%
• Return on Assets: 6.52%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.99
• Current Ratio: 1.56
• Quick Ratio: 1.56

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $191.55 million
• Price / Sales: 9.03
• Cash Flow: $1.83 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.75
• Book Value: $19.50 per share
• Price / Book: 1.01

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 87,921,000
• Free Float: 88,314,000
• Market Cap: $1.73 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.42