Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $9.60.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $9.50 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th.

Institutional Trading of Runway Growth Finance

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Ground Capital raised its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 775,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,874,000 after buying an additional 253,500 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,842,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,145,000. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 122,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 6,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the third quarter valued at approximately $962,000. 64.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RWAY opened at $7.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.15. Runway Growth Finance has a one year low of $6.61 and a one year high of $11.40. The firm has a market cap of $253.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 0.70.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $30.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.60 million. Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 24.79%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 143.48%.

About Runway Growth Finance

Runway Growth Finance, Inc is a publicly traded business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to high‐growth, venture‐backed companies. The firm specializes in structuring senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, second‐lien financings, convertible notes and equity co‐investments designed to extend the cash runway for late‐stage companies. Runway’s flexible capital offerings are aimed at supporting technology, life sciences and other innovation‐driven sectors as they pursue growth initiatives and prepare for liquidity events.

Originally launched in 2017 under the name Saratoga Investment Corp., the company rebranded as Runway Growth Finance in 2020 following the acquisition of an established middle‐market credit manager.