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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from “sell” to “hold”, adding to a mixed but generally cautious analyst outlook on the stock.
• Recent analyst moves include UBS cutting its price target to $14.75, while Wells Fargo downgraded the shares to underweight and reduced its target to $12.00. Overall, MarketBeat says the stock’s consensus rating is Hold with a target price of $14.44.
• The company’s latest earnings missed expectations, with EPS of $0.41 versus $0.42 expected and revenue of $17.15 million well below forecasts. Despite that, insiders have been buying shares, with two recent purchases totaling 16,282 shares.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.50 to $14.75 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.44.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Price Performance

NCDL opened at $12.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $599.84 million, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.26. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $11.97 and a 1 year high of $17.11.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $47.79 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 9.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In other Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending news, CAO Marissa Hassen bought 3,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.21 per share, for a total transaction of $49,960.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $129,193.80. This represents a 63.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John Mccally purchased 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.27 per share, for a total transaction of $99,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 15,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,301.15. This trade represents a 96.84% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought a total of 16,282 shares of company stock worth $215,485 in the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NCDL. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings 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 during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the third quarter worth about $38,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% in 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. Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the third quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 2nd quarter valued at about $108,000.

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.

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