Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) Competitors

Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) and Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, media sentiment and valuation.

Does the media favor MAIN or MSDL?

In the previous week, Main Street Capital had 17 more articles in the media than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Main Street Capital and 1 mentions for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund. Main Street Capital's average media sentiment score of 0.36 beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's score of 0.00 indicating that Main Street Capital is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Main Street Capital	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MAIN or MSDL?

20.3% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Main Street Capital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MAIN or MSDL?

Main Street Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Main Street Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Main Street Capital	$541.03M	9.76	$508.08M	$5.89	10.07
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	$416.08M	3.99	$215.56M	$2.18	8.66

Which has more volatility & risk, MAIN or MSDL?

Main Street Capital has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MAIN or MSDL a better dividend stock?

Main Street Capital pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.6%. Main Street Capital pays out 50.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays out 91.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Main Street Capital has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend MAIN or MSDL?

Main Street Capital presently has a consensus price target of $52.80, indicating a potential downside of 10.96%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.93%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is more favorable than Main Street Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Main Street Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Is MAIN or MSDL more profitable?

Main Street Capital has a net margin of 94.61% compared to Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's net margin of 47.65%. Main Street Capital's return on equity of 13.02% beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Main Street Capital	94.61%	13.02%	6.95%
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	47.65%	11.80%	5.70%

Summary

Main Street Capital beats Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.