Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.25.

Several research firms have issued reports on RWAY. B. Riley lowered Runway Growth Finance from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $14.50 to $13.50 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Friday, March 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Runway Growth Finance from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. TheStreet lowered Runway Growth Finance from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Runway Growth Finance from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO R David Spreng purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.88 per share, with a total value of $59,400.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 64,532 shares in the company, valued at $766,640.16. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Thomas B. Raterman purchased 20,460 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.61 per share, with a total value of $237,540.60. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 179,965 shares in the company, valued at $2,089,393.65. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R David Spreng purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.88 per share, with a total value of $59,400.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 64,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,640.16. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth $126,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth $126,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,303 shares of the company's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,141 shares of the company's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth $165,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.61% of the company's stock.

Runway Growth Finance Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:RWAY traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $12.78. 301,042 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 227,588. Runway Growth Finance has a 12 month low of $10.47 and a 12 month high of $13.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $517.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $12.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $39.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.26 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 27.00% and a return on equity of 13.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Runway Growth Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 145.45%.

About Runway Growth Finance

Runway Growth Finance Corp. is a business development company specializing investments in senior-secured loans to late stage and growth companies. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the technology, life sciences, healthcare and information services, business services and select consumer services and products sectors.