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

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, 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 brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.96.

RWAY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America began 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 for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Runway Growth Finance from $12.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $12.75 to $11.25 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

Runway Growth Finance stock opened at $10.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.64. Runway Growth Finance has a 12 month low of $9.87 and a 12 month high of $13.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.18 million, a PE ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.59.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $34.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.62 million. Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 19.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 145.45%.

Insider Activity at Runway Growth Finance

In other Runway Growth Finance news, CEO R David Spreng bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 69,532 shares in the company, 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. 1.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth about $165,000. Monashee Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $1,158,000. Edge Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 187,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after buying an additional 11,142 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 289.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 114,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 84,790 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwich Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenwich Investment Management Inc. now owns 118,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. 64.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.