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

Shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.96.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RWAY. Compass Point raised Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $12.75 to $11.25 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock.

Runway Growth Finance Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ RWAY opened at $10.20 on Tuesday. Runway Growth Finance has a 12 month low of $9.87 and a 12 month high of $13.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.18 million, a P/E ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $34.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.62 million. Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 19.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.65%. Runway Growth Finance’s payout ratio is 145.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Runway Growth Finance news, CEO R David Spreng purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 69,532 shares in the company, valued at $707,140.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Monashee Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,158,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 289.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 114,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 84,790 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 469,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,515,000 after acquiring an additional 104,822 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 729.8% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 104,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 0.8% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

About Runway Growth Finance

Runway Growth Finance Corp. is a business development company specializing investments in senior-secured loans to late stage and growth companies. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the technology, life sciences, healthcare and information services, business services and select consumer services and products sectors.