Analysts Set Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Target Price at $21.50

Shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.58.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSDL. Raymond James initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.50 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

NYSE MSDL opened at $21.34 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 1 year low of $19.05 and a 1 year high of $22.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion and a PE ratio of 6.82.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 1st. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 62.81%. The company had revenue of $100.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.34 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.90%.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.