Palmer Square Capital BDC (PSBD) Competitors

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

Does the media favor PSBD or MSDL?

In the previous week, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had 9 more articles in the media than Palmer Square Capital BDC. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and 3 mentions for Palmer Square Capital BDC. Palmer Square Capital BDC's average media sentiment score of 0.03 beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's score of -0.29 indicating that Palmer Square Capital BDC is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Palmer Square Capital BDC	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend PSBD or MSDL?

Palmer Square Capital BDC currently has a consensus target price of $13.88, indicating a potential upside of 10.78%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a consensus target price of $18.58, indicating a potential upside of 13.00%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's stronger consensus rating and 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
Palmer Square Capital BDC	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Is PSBD or MSDL a better dividend stock?

Palmer Square Capital BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.5%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.2%. Palmer Square Capital BDC pays out 257.1% 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 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. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, PSBD or MSDL?

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
Palmer Square Capital BDC	$23.10M	17.42	$47.67M	$0.56	22.37
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	$416.08M	3.43	$215.56M	$1.93	8.52

Is PSBD or MSDL more profitable?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a net margin of 42.65% compared to Palmer Square Capital BDC's net margin of 13.51%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's return on equity of 11.24% beat Palmer Square Capital BDC's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Palmer Square Capital BDC	13.51%	10.91%	4.15%
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	42.65%	11.24%	5.28%

Which has more volatility & risk, PSBD or MSDL?

Palmer Square Capital BDC has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in PSBD or MSDL?

6.5% of Palmer Square Capital BDC shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Palmer Square Capital BDC shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund beats Palmer Square Capital BDC on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.