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

Shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.25.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on RWAY shares. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. B. Riley lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $13.50 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Runway Growth Finance from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $13.50 to $12.50 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RWAY opened at $13.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $527.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.70. Runway Growth Finance has a 12 month low of $10.47 and a 12 month high of $13.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.04). Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 27.00% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $39.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.28%. Runway Growth Finance’s payout ratio is 145.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO R David Spreng acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.88 per share, with a total value of $59,400.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,640.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Runway Growth Finance news, CEO R David Spreng purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.88 per share, for a total transaction of $59,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,532 shares in the company, valued at $766,640.16. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas B. Raterman acquired 20,460 shares of Runway Growth Finance stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.61 per share, with a total value of $237,540.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 179,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,089,393.65. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Runway Growth Finance during the fourth quarter worth $126,000. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $126,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 8.7% during the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 7.7% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

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.