Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL)’s share price dropped 0.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $12.46 and last traded at $12.49. 159,228 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 147,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NCDL. Zacks Research upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $14.75 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.62.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.53 and a 200-day moving average of $13.02. The firm has a market cap of $616.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.52.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $11.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.72 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 24.44%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.5%. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 151.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,573 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the third quarter valued at $38,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 33.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at about $108,000.

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.