Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Hits New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• NCDL shares fell to a new 52-week low of $10.96 and were last trading near $11.05, below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but averages to a “Hold” rating, with a consensus price target of $13.62. Recent firms lowered targets, although UBS upgraded the stock to “Buy.”
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.41, beating estimates, and declared a $0.36 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 13.0% annualized yield; however, its dividend payout ratio stands at 151.58%.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $10.96 and last traded at $11.0510, with a volume of 843 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NCDL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research note 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $14.75 to $13.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.62.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Trading Up 0.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $546.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.81.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $46.72 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a net margin of 24.44% and a return on equity of 9.60%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.0%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 151.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nottingham Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the first quarter worth about $308,000. NewGen Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the first quarter worth $355,000. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 19.9% in the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 53,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 8,932 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 70,694 shares of the company's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 89,776 shares of the company's stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 59,777 shares during the last quarter.

About Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. NYSE: NCDL is a business development company that seeks to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation by investing in privately owned middle-market companies. The company primarily focuses on directly originated loans and other debt investments rather than publicly traded securities.

NCDL generally invests in senior-secured loans, including first-lien and unitranche loans, and may make select junior debt and equity investments.

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