Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on RWAY. Weiss Ratings cut Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Bank of America lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Runway Growth Finance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.20.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Shares of RWAY opened at $6.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $284.15 million, a P/E ratio of 61.64 and a beta of 0.66. Runway Growth Finance has a twelve month low of $5.19 and a twelve month high of $11.12. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.76.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.06 million. On average, analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.5%. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,200.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in Runway Growth Finance by 92.6% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

Runway Growth Finance Company Profile

Runway Growth Finance, Inc is a publicly traded business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to high‐growth, venture‐backed companies. The firm specializes in structuring senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, second‐lien financings, convertible notes and equity co‐investments designed to extend the cash runway for late‐stage companies. Runway’s flexible capital offerings are aimed at supporting technology, life sciences and other innovation‐driven sectors as they pursue growth initiatives and prepare for liquidity events.

Originally launched in 2017 under the name Saratoga Investment Corp., the company rebranded as Runway Growth Finance in 2020 following the acquisition of an established middle‐market credit manager.