Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 72,500 shares, a growth of 99.7% from the February 13th total of 36,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 582,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSDL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.38.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at $494,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter valued at $2,715,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 257.1% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 52,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 37,970 shares during the period. Finally, Centiva Capital LP grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 17,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 6,595 shares during the period.

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Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Price Performance

NYSE MSDL traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.64. The company had a trading volume of 447,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 671,862. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.49. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a twelve month low of $19.28 and a twelve month high of $24.18.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.06). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 54.89%. The firm had revenue of $103.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.30%.

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.