Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Price Target Cut to $13.50 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $15.00 to $13.50 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 7.87% from the company’s previous close.

NCDL has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.50 to $14.75 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.06.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:NCDL traded down $0.30 on Monday, hitting $12.52. 16,142 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 230,030. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $11.97 and a 52 week high of $16.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.18. The company has a market cap of $618.12 million, a PE ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.51.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 24.44%.The firm had revenue of $11.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.72 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Marissa Hassen purchased 3,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.21 per share, with a total value of $49,960.22. Following the acquisition, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,780 shares in the company, valued at $129,193.80. The trade was a 63.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John Mccally purchased 7,500 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.27 per share, with a total value of $99,525.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president directly owned 15,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,301.15. This trade represents a 96.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 16,282 shares of company stock valued at $215,485. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NCDL. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 26,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 190.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 18,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares during the period.

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.