Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.40.

RWAY has been the subject of several analyst reports. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (up from $10.00) on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Runway Growth Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Friday, September 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Carmela Thomson acquired 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $6.97 per share, for a total transaction of $55,760.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,494.80. The trade was a 165.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Rovner bought 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.57 per share, for a total transaction of $45,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,990. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 16,000 shares of company stock worth $108,640. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,843,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,534,000 after buying an additional 171,872 shares during the period. North Ground Capital purchased a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter worth $4,084,080. SBE LLC DBA Cedar Cove Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. SBE LLC DBA Cedar Cove Wealth Partners now owns 307,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,032,000 after buying an additional 31,482 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter worth $1,561,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the second quarter valued at $1,044,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

RWAY stock opened at $6.33 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.29 million, a P/E ratio of 57.55 and a beta of 0.70. Runway Growth Finance has a one year low of $5.19 and a one year high of $10.20.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.14. Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. The company had revenue of $37.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.9%. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,200.00%.

Runway Growth Finance Company Profile

Runway Growth Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:RWAY) is a business development company that provides financing to growth-oriented companies, primarily through senior secured loans and other debt investments. The company focuses on lending to businesses that may have limited access to traditional bank financing, including venture-backed and private equity-backed companies.

Runway Growth Finance typically supports late-stage and expansion-stage businesses across sectors such as technology, healthcare, consumer products and business services.