JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Position in New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 29.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,595,646 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 363,443 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.55% of New Mountain Finance worth $15,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NMFC. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 5.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 520,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,022,000 after acquiring an additional 27,227 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 231,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 15,622 shares in the last quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 3rd quarter worth about $275,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 206,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after buying an additional 6,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC grew its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 316,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after buying an additional 84,584 shares in the last quarter. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NMFC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of New Mountain Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.42.

Insider Activity at New Mountain Finance

In other news, COO Laura C. Holson Boswerger acquired 12,500 shares of New Mountain Finance stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.74 per share, for a total transaction of $96,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 81,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,172.20. This trade represents a 18.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.71% of the company’s stock.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NMFC opened at $7.99 on Wednesday. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a one year low of $7.52 and a one year high of $11.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $824.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.27 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.36.

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 16.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 853.33%.

New Mountain Finance Company Profile

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.