Palmer Square Capital BDC (PSBD) Competitors

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (NYSE:MSDL) and Palmer Square Capital BDC (NYSE:PSBD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MSDL or PSBD?

6.5% of Palmer Square Capital BDC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Palmer Square Capital BDC shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, MSDL or PSBD?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palmer Square Capital BDC has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer MSDL or PSBD?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund currently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.04%. Palmer Square Capital BDC has a consensus price target of $14.13, indicating a potential upside of 0.39%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is more favorable than Palmer Square Capital BDC.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Palmer Square Capital BDC	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media prefer MSDL or PSBD?

In the previous week, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund had 1 more articles in the media than Palmer Square Capital BDC. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund and 2 mentions for Palmer Square Capital BDC. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's average media sentiment score of 0.22 beat Palmer Square Capital BDC's score of 0.00 indicating that Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Palmer Square Capital BDC	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is MSDL or PSBD more profitable?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has a net margin of 47.65% compared to Palmer Square Capital BDC's net margin of 11.72%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's return on equity of 11.80% beat Palmer Square Capital BDC's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	47.65%	11.80%	5.70%
Palmer Square Capital BDC	11.72%	11.04%	4.18%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, MSDL or PSBD?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund has higher revenue and earnings than Palmer Square Capital BDC. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Palmer Square Capital BDC, 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 Fund	$416.08M	4.10	$215.56M	$2.18	8.90
Palmer Square Capital BDC	$21.25M	21.43	$47.67M	$0.50	28.14

Is MSDL or PSBD a better dividend stock?

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.3%. Palmer Square Capital BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund pays out 91.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Palmer Square Capital BDC pays out 288.0% 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 Fund is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund beats Palmer Square Capital BDC on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.