Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Short Interest Up 99.7% in February

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 1,987.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 352,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,287,000 after purchasing an additional 335,800 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $3,434,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending by 207.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 237,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,912,000 after purchasing an additional 160,536 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $3,051,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley Direct Lending during the fourth quarter worth about $2,864,000.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 1.2 %

MSDL traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.15. The company had a trading volume of 663,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 678,851. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a 52 week low of $19.28 and a 52 week high of $24.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.47.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.06). Morgan Stanley Direct Lending had a net margin of 54.89% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.02 million. On average, research 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.