Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 348,872 Shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,145,047 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 348,872 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in New Mountain Finance were worth $15,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance in the third quarter worth about $65,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance in the first quarter worth about $71,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance in the first quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance in the fourth quarter worth about $94,000. Institutional investors own 32.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded New Mountain Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on New Mountain Finance from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on New Mountain Finance from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.60.

New Mountain Finance Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ NMFC opened at $7.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.66, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $7.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $720.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.23 and a beta of 0.55. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a 52 week low of $6.73 and a 52 week high of $10.71.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. New Mountain Finance had a negative net margin of 16.78% and a positive return on equity of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $39.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.1%. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -212.77%.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides customized debt and equity capital solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940, New Mountain Finance invests in sponsor-backed and founder-led businesses that span a range of industry sectors, with a focus on companies demonstrating resilient growth and recurring revenue streams.

The company’s investment portfolio typically includes first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien and junior debt instruments, mezzanine financing and equity co-investments.