New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

NMFC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on New Mountain Finance from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $9.83.

New Mountain Finance Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NMFC stock opened at $7.65 on Thursday. New Mountain Finance has a 1 year low of $7.53 and a 1 year high of $11.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 3.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $8.73 and its 200-day moving average is $9.40. The stock has a market cap of $789.17 million, a PE ratio of 51.00 and a beta of 0.58.

New Mountain Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 853.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Mountain Finance

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in New Mountain Finance by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 21,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,785 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,450,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,728,000. Finally, VARCOV Co. bought a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $853,000. Institutional investors own 32.08% of the company’s stock.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides customized debt and equity capital solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940, New Mountain Finance invests in sponsor-backed and founder-led businesses that span a range of industry sectors, with a focus on companies demonstrating resilient growth and recurring revenue streams.

The company’s investment portfolio typically includes first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien and junior debt instruments, mezzanine financing and equity co-investments.