D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 77,141 Shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC - Free Report) by 161.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,989 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 77,141 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of New Mountain Finance worth $1,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 35,455 shares of the company's stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 45,557 shares of the company's stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 31,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 3,708 shares in the last quarter. First National Trust Co increased its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 164,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 4,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 19,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783 shares during the last quarter. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Mountain Finance

In other news, Director David Ogens acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.44 per share, with a total value of $57,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 179,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,047,988.80. The trade was a 2.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NMFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on New Mountain Finance from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NMFC traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.78. 20,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,940. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $10.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.06. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. New Mountain Finance Co. has a 1 year low of $8.84 and a 1 year high of $12.65.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $85.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. New Mountain Finance had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 30.28%. The business's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that New Mountain Finance Co. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.87%. New Mountain Finance's payout ratio is 128.00%.

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.