Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (MSDL) Competitors

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) and Blue Owl Capital Co. III (NYSE:OBDE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk and dividends.

Does the media prefer MSDL or OBDE?

In the previous week, Blue Owl Capital Co. III had 3 more articles in the media than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Blue Owl Capital Co. III and 2 mentions for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending. Blue Owl Capital Co. III's average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's score of 0.22 indicating that Blue Owl Capital Co. III is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Blue Owl Capital Co. III	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is MSDL or OBDE more profitable?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a net margin of 54.89% compared to Blue Owl Capital Co. III's net margin of 45.35%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's return on equity of 12.69% beat Blue Owl Capital Co. III's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	54.89%	12.69%	6.52%
Blue Owl Capital Co. III	45.35%	11.52%	5.22%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MSDL or OBDE?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending received 6 more outperform votes than Blue Owl Capital Co. III when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 100.00% of users gave Blue Owl Capital Co. III an outperform vote while only 43.75% of users gave Morgan Stanley Direct Lending an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	Outperform Votes 7 43.75%	Underperform Votes 9 56.25%
Blue Owl Capital Co. III	Outperform Votes 1 100.00%	Underperform Votes No Votes

Is MSDL or OBDE a better dividend stock?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.8%. Blue Owl Capital Co. III pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending pays out 78.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Blue Owl Capital Co. III pays out 79.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, MSDL or OBDE?

Blue Owl Capital Co. III has higher revenue and earnings than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Blue Owl Capital Co. III, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	$257.79M	7.05	$231.01M	$2.55	8.03
Blue Owl Capital Co. III	$422.83M	4.29	$271.96M	$1.76	8.35

Do analysts rate MSDL or OBDE?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending presently has a consensus price target of $21.42, suggesting a potential upside of 4.57%. Blue Owl Capital Co. III has a consensus price target of $16.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.84%. Given Blue Owl Capital Co. III's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Blue Owl Capital Co. III is more favorable than Morgan Stanley Direct Lending.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17
Blue Owl Capital Co. III	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and Blue Owl Capital Co. III tied by winning 8 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.