Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.25.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on RWAY shares. TheStreet cut Runway Growth Finance from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. B. Riley lowered shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $14.50 to $13.50 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Runway Growth Finance from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $13.50 to $12.50 in a research report on Friday, March 8th.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Shares of Runway Growth Finance stock opened at $12.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $517.72 million, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.55 and a 200-day moving average of $12.68. Runway Growth Finance has a 1-year low of $10.47 and a 1-year high of $13.74.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.04). Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 27.00% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $39.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 145.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Runway Growth Finance news, Director Ocm Growth Holdings Llc sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.33, for a total transaction of $11,330,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,492,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,526,263.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Runway Growth Finance news, insider Thomas B. Raterman purchased 20,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.61 per share, for a total transaction of $237,540.60. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 179,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,089,393.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ocm Growth Holdings Llc sold 1,000,000 shares of Runway Growth Finance stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.33, for a total transaction of $11,330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,492,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,526,263.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RWAY. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 0.6% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,039,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,330,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Runway Growth Finance by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 187,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 11,142 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC boosted its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 56.1% in the third quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 137,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,765,000 after acquiring an additional 49,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its stake 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 period. 64.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.