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

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.20.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America downgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $9.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised Runway Growth Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. North Ground Capital lifted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 102.5% during the 4th quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 1,569,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,012,000 after buying an additional 794,050 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the third quarter worth about $4,145,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,671,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,694,000 after purchasing an additional 261,768 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 57.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 638,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,702,000 after purchasing an additional 231,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBE LLC DBA Cedar Cove Wealth Partners bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,693,000. Institutional investors own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:RWAY opened at $5.31 on Friday. Runway Growth Finance has a 1 year low of $5.21 and a 1 year high of $11.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.35. The stock has a market cap of $225.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.00 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $29.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.46 million. Runway Growth Finance had a negative net margin of 2.00% and a positive return on equity of 10.87%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 24.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,466.67%.

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.