Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, MSDL or MAIN?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Main Street Capital has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MSDL or MAIN a better dividend stock?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.8%. Main Street Capital pays an annual dividend of $3.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays out 103.6% 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 pays out 50.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Main Street Capital has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Does the media prefer MSDL or MAIN?

In the previous week, Main Street Capital had 6 more articles in the media than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Main Street Capital and 7 mentions for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund. Main Street Capital's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's score of 0.92 indicating that Main Street Capital is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Main Street Capital	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MSDL or MAIN?

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

Do analysts recommend MSDL or MAIN?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund currently has a consensus price target of $18.58, suggesting a potential upside of 9.38%. Main Street Capital has a consensus price target of $61.20, suggesting a potential upside of 8.26%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's higher probable upside, equities research 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
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Main Street Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, MSDL or MAIN?

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
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	$416.08M	3.55	$215.56M	$1.93	8.80
Main Street Capital	$541.03M	9.34	$508.08M	$6.07	9.31

Is MSDL or MAIN more profitable?

Main Street Capital has a net margin of 96.16% compared to Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's net margin of 42.65%. Main Street Capital's return on equity of 12.70% beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	42.65%	11.24%	5.28%
Main Street Capital	96.16%	12.70%	6.85%

Summary

Main Street Capital beats Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund on 17 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.