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

Shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.96.

Several research firms have commented on RWAY. Compass Point raised shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $12.75 to $11.25 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley cut their target price on Runway Growth Finance from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RWAY opened at $10.55 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.03. Runway Growth Finance has a 52 week low of $9.87 and a 52 week high of $13.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.67 million, a P/E ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.60.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.06). Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 19.32%. The company had revenue of $34.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.72 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 Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Runway Growth Finance’s payout ratio is 145.45%.

Insider Transactions at Runway Growth Finance

In other news, CEO R David Spreng purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,850.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 69,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $707,140.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Runway Growth Finance news, CEO R David Spreng bought 5,000 shares of Runway Growth Finance stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.17 per share, with a total value of $50,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 69,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,140.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ocm Growth Holdings Llc sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.90, for a total transaction of $4,760,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,779,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,278,049.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RWAY. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Runway Growth Finance by 33.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 3,376 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 16,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $294,000. 64.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.