Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Receives $8.88 Average PT from Brokerages

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.8750.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RWAY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Runway Growth Finance from $9.50 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

RWAY stock opened at $6.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.09 million, a PE ratio of -67.00 and a beta of 0.64. Runway Growth Finance has a 1 year low of $5.89 and a 1 year high of $11.40.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $29.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.47 million. Runway Growth Finance had a negative net margin of 2.00% and a positive return on equity of 10.87%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 21.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,466.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Runway Growth Finance by 10.3% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,843,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,534,000 after acquiring an additional 171,872 shares during the period. North Ground Capital grew its position in Runway Growth Finance by 102.5% in the fourth quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 1,569,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,012,000 after acquiring an additional 794,050 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Runway Growth Finance by 3.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,442,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,654,000 after acquiring an additional 49,685 shares during the period. Bulldog Investors LLP grew its position in Runway Growth Finance by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Bulldog Investors LLP now owns 1,200,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,724,000 after acquiring an additional 159,588 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Runway Growth Finance by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 638,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,702,000 after acquiring an additional 231,744 shares during the period. 64.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.