Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Sets New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• NCDL shares fell to a new 52-week low of $10.46 during Monday trading, well below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain mixed, with the stock carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $13.62; recent target cuts were partly offset by UBS upgrading the shares to “Buy.”
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.41, beating estimates, and declared a $0.36 quarterly dividend. The $1.44 annualized payout implies a high 13.9% yield, though the payout ratio is 151.58%.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as low as $10.46 and last traded at $10.5090, with a volume of 16,261 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NCDL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $14.75 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.62.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $513.16 million, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.64.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.72 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 24.44%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 1.60 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 Tuesday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.9%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio is currently 151.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 646,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,270,000 after purchasing an additional 12,522 shares during 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 worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the period. Centurion Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,879,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2.9% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 442,680 shares of the company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 12,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 23.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,909 shares of the company's stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 27,970 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.