Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $1.56 Million Investment in Runway Growth Finance Corp. $RWAY

Key Points

• Legal & General Group acquired 278,034 shares of Runway Growth Finance, valued at approximately $1.56 million, giving it a 0.66% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 64.61% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with ratings ranging from buy to sell; the consensus is “Hold” with an average price target of $8.40. RWAY recently traded at $6.65, within a 12-month range of $5.19 to $10.75.
• Runway Growth Finance exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $0.43 and revenue of $37.03 million. The company declared a $0.33 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 19.8% annualized yield, while its CFO purchased 8,000 shares.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 278,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,561,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.66% of Runway Growth Finance as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RWAY. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 74,437.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,963 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on RWAY. Bank of America cut shares of Runway Growth Finance from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, June 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. B. Riley Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Runway Growth Finance from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.40.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

RWAY stock opened at $6.65 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. Runway Growth Finance Corp. has a 12 month low of $5.19 and a 12 month high of $10.75. The firm has a market cap of $278.70 million, a P/E ratio of 60.46 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $6.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.48.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.14. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $37.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.06 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 19.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Runway Growth Finance's payout ratio is currently 1,200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Runway Growth Finance news, CFO Carmela Thomson purchased 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.97 per share, for a total transaction of $55,760.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 12,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,494.80. This trade represents a 165.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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