Russell Investments Group Ltd. Invests $581,000 in New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has acquired a new position in New Mountain Finance Corporation, purchasing 52,644 shares valued at approximately $581,000 during the first quarter.
• New Mountain Finance recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32, which will be paid on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 12.0%.
• Despite reporting earnings per share that met analyst expectations, New Mountain Finance's revenue for the quarter fell short, totaling $83.49 million against expectations of $84.57 million.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 52,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NMFC. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in New Mountain Finance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,674,000. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in New Mountain Finance by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,764,111 shares of the company's stock worth $30,488,000 after buying an additional 346,508 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in New Mountain Finance by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 519,532 shares of the company's stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 262,631 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in New Mountain Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,359,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in New Mountain Finance by 10.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on NMFC shares. B. Riley started coverage on New Mountain Finance in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $11.00 target price on New Mountain Finance and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.75.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

NMFC stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $10.66. 704,865 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 478,096. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $10.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 0.80. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $8.84 and a fifty-two week high of $12.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42.

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

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. New Mountain Finance's payout ratio is 168.42%.

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.