New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in New Mountain Finance Corporation by 46.9%, selling over 1.2 million shares, leaving the fund with approximately 1.4 million shares valued at $15.5 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing a 12.4% yield, with a payout ratio of 168.42%.
• New Mountain Finance's stock recently reported earnings per share of $0.32, meeting analyst expectations, but generating revenue of $83.49 million, slightly below the forecast of $84.57 million.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC - Free Report) by 46.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,406,972 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,244,108 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 1.30% of New Mountain Finance worth $15,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance in the 1st quarter worth $130,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in New Mountain Finance by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,091,476 shares of the company's stock worth $12,039,000 after buying an additional 105,559 shares in the last quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance during the first quarter valued at about $499,000. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 14.3% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,764,111 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,488,000 after purchasing an additional 346,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co grew its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 2.9% during the first quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 169,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,780 shares in the last quarter. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NMFC traded up $0.0450 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.4150. The company's stock had a trading volume of 60,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,294. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a 1 year low of $8.84 and a 1 year high of $12.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.82. The business's fifty day moving average is $10.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.67.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $83.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Mountain Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. New Mountain Finance's dividend payout ratio is presently 168.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NMFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $11.00 price target on shares of New Mountain Finance and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $11.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, New Mountain Finance presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.75.

New Mountain Finance Profile

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.