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

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.40.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research raised Runway Growth Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Bank of America lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $9.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th.

Insider Activity at Runway Growth Finance

In other Runway Growth Finance news, CFO Carmela Thomson acquired 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.97 per share, for a total transaction of $55,760.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,494.80. This trade represents a 165.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the second quarter valued at about $56,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 92.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 74,437.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ RWAY opened at $6.59 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.88 and a 200-day moving average of $6.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $276.19 million, a P/E ratio of 59.91 and a beta of 0.66. Runway Growth Finance has a 52 week low of $5.19 and a 52 week high of $10.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.14. Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 5.82%.The firm had revenue of $37.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 20.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Runway Growth Finance’s payout ratio is presently 1,200.00%.

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.