Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Price Target Increased to $21.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.50 to $21.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $23.50 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a market perform rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued an outperform rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $21.58.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of MSDL opened at $20.87 on Friday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52-week low of $19.05 and a 52-week high of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion and a P/E ratio of 6.67.

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

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s payout ratio is currently 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.