Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,138 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,389 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in New Mountain Finance were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in New Mountain Finance by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,376,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,438,000 after acquiring an additional 237,594 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 3rd quarter worth about $130,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in New Mountain Finance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $351,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in New Mountain Finance in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance in the third quarter worth approximately $129,000. 32.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Stock Down 0.3 %

NMFC stock opened at $11.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. New Mountain Finance Co. has a 1-year low of $10.61 and a 1-year high of $13.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.93.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). New Mountain Finance had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 30.28%. The business had revenue of $95.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.10 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. New Mountain Finance’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that New Mountain Finance Co. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Mountain Finance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from New Mountain Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.79%. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Kline bought 41,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.92 per share, with a total value of $453,726.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 351,783 shares in the company, valued at $3,841,470.36. This trade represents a 13.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven B. Klinsky bought 150,609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.87 per share, for a total transaction of $1,637,119.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,632,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,483,383.62. This represents a 4.33 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 324,530 shares of company stock valued at $3,603,675. Insiders own 10.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corporation (Nasdaq: NMFC), a business development company is a private equity / buyouts and loan fund specializes in directly investing and lending to middle market companies in defensive growth industries. The fund prefers investing in buyout and middle market companies. It also makes investments in debt securities at all levels of the capital structure including first and second lien debt, unsecured notes, and mezzanine securities.