New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Given "Underperform" Rating at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America has reiterated its "underperform" rating for New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) and lowered its price target from $11.75 to $10.00, suggesting a potential downside of 4.49% from the current price.
• New Mountain Finance reported earnings of $0.32 per share for the last quarter, meeting consensus estimates, despite a revenue of $83.49 million that fell short of expectations.
• Four research analysts currently rate New Mountain Finance with a "Hold" and one with a "Sell," resulting in a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $10.60.

Bank of America reaffirmed their underperform rating on shares of New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Bank of America currently has a $10.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $11.75.

Separately, Oppenheimer set a $11.00 target price on shares of New Mountain Finance and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $10.60.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NMFC traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $9.89. The company had a trading volume of 393,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,315. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. New Mountain Finance has a twelve month low of $8.84 and a twelve month high of $12.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.80.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. New Mountain Finance had a net margin of 23.27% and a return on equity of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $83.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $84.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. New Mountain Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently 168.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Mountain Finance

In other New Mountain Finance news, Director Steven B. Klinsky acquired 106,691 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $1,043,437.98. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,370,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,746,981.46. This trade represents a 2.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adam B. Weinstein bought 49,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.03 per share, for a total transaction of $498,992.50. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 652,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,544,474.70. This represents a 8.25% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 157,191 shares of company stock valued at $1,550,035 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NMFC. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 394,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,159,000 after buying an additional 28,650 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in New Mountain Finance during the 2nd quarter worth $429,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 2.8% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 95,805 shares of the company's stock worth $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,634 shares during the last quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance during the second quarter worth approximately $158,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $144,000. 32.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corporation Nasdaq: NMFC, a business development company is a private equity / buyouts and loan fund specializes in directly investing and lending to middle market companies in defensive growth industries. The fund prefers investing in buyout and middle market companies. It also makes investments in debt securities at all levels of the capital structure including first and second lien debt, unsecured notes, and mezzanine securities.