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

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.50 price target (up previously from $16.50) on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.63.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NCDL traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.98. The stock had a trading volume of 120,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 208,876. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $16.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $853.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 1-year low of $14.21 and a 1-year high of $18.01.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.04). Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 44.83%. The company had revenue of $53.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.01 million. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.60%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending's payout ratio is 96.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

In related news, Treasurer Shaul Vichness purchased 5,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.30 per share, for a total transaction of $81,500.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth J. Kencel bought 16,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.34 per share, with a total value of $249,029.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 28,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $431,314.78. The trade was a 136.62% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 27,337 shares of company stock worth $426,945. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,805 shares of the company's stock worth $1,238,000 after buying an additional 26,103 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 102.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 75,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 38,384 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 179,049 shares of the company's stock worth $3,004,000 after buying an additional 60,044 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 4th quarter valued at $309,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 361.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 437,992 shares of the company's stock worth $7,350,000 after purchasing an additional 343,113 shares in the last quarter.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. is a specialty finance company focused primarily on investing in senior secured loans to private equity-owned U.S. middle market companies. It has elected to be regulated as a business development company. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. is based in NEW YORK.