Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) Receives $15.40 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.40.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NCDL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Performance

Shares of NCDL stock opened at $13.43 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $663.31 million, a PE ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.01. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $12.54 and a 52 week high of $17.59.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $26.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.60 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 31.57%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.7%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 137.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Treasurer Shaul Vichness purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $65,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,250. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Mccally purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.30 per share, with a total value of $26,600.00. Following the purchase, the vice president owned 7,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,819. The trade was a 36.83% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 47,547 shares of company stock worth $635,105 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NCDL. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 181.2% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 41,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 26,885 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 2,179.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 742,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,902,000 after buying an additional 709,727 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. VARCOV Co. acquired a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at $371,000. Finally, Almitas Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at $936,000.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Company Profile

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns through a diversified portfolio of direct lending instruments. Established in early 2022, NCDL focuses on privately negotiated debt investments in middle-market companies, primarily within the United States. The fund offers investors access to a segment of the credit markets that has historically been less correlated with public debt markets, aiming to capture yield premiums associated with private lending.

The fund’s investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, unitranche financings and selectively structured mezzanine debt.