Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate NCDL “Hold” overall: Of five covering brokerages, three recommend holding, one rates it a sell and one a buy. The average 12-month price target is $14.06, above the stock’s $12.60 opening price.
• NCDL reported quarterly EPS of $0.41, exceeding the $0.39 consensus estimate, though revenue of $11.14 million was below the $46.72 million estimate. The stock has traded between $11.97 and $16.25 over the past year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, or $1.44 annualized, representing an 11.4% yield; its payout ratio is 151.58%.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.0625.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NCDL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of 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.

Institutional Trading of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 839,143 shares of the company's stock worth $11,194,000 after buying an additional 106,610 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2,179.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 742,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,902,000 after acquiring an additional 709,727 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 689,050 shares of the company's stock worth $9,192,000 after buying an additional 196,956 shares in the last quarter. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 4th quarter worth $7,374,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 551,974 shares of the company's stock worth $7,363,000 after purchasing an additional 26,454 shares in the last quarter.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Trading Up 1.8%

NCDL stock opened at $12.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $622.51 million, a PE ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.15. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 12-month low of $11.97 and a 12-month high of $16.25.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.72 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 24.44%. Equities analysts forecast that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is 151.58%.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

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.

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