Palmer Square Capital BDC (PSBD) Competitors

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) and Palmer Square Capital BDC (NYSE:PSBD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Is MSDL or PSBD a better dividend stock?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.8%. Palmer Square Capital BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.5%. 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. Palmer Square Capital BDC pays out 288.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer MSDL or PSBD?

In the previous week, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund both had 1 articles in the media. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's average media sentiment score of 0.00 equaled Palmer Square Capital BDC'saverage media sentiment score.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
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
Palmer Square Capital BDC	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more volatility & risk, MSDL or PSBD?

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

Do insiders & institutionals believe in MSDL or PSBD?

6.5% of Palmer Square Capital BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Palmer Square Capital BDC shares are owned 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 prefer MSDL or PSBD?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund presently has a consensus price target of $20.10, suggesting a potential upside of 8.53%. Palmer Square Capital BDC has a consensus price target of $14.25, suggesting a potential upside of 3.83%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is more favorable than Palmer Square Capital BDC.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Palmer Square Capital BDC	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is MSDL or PSBD more profitable?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a net margin of 47.65% compared to Palmer Square Capital BDC's net margin of 11.72%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's return on equity of 11.80% beat Palmer Square Capital BDC's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	47.65%	11.80%	5.70%
Palmer Square Capital BDC	11.72%	11.04%	4.18%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, MSDL or PSBD?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Palmer Square Capital BDC. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Palmer Square Capital BDC, 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	$191.55M	8.50	$215.56M	$2.18	8.50
Palmer Square Capital BDC	$143.51M	3.10	$47.67M	$0.50	27.45

Summary

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund beats Palmer Square Capital BDC on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.