Runway Growth Finance Corp. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 (NASDAQ:RWAY)

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th.

Runway Growth Finance has a payout ratio of 88.9% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings decline. Analysts expect Runway Growth Finance to earn $1.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 87.9%.

Runway Growth Finance Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Runway Growth Finance stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $12.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 291,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,406. Runway Growth Finance has a 1-year low of $10.47 and a 1-year high of $13.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.50 and a 200 day moving average of $12.70. The company has a market capitalization of $523.39 million, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $39.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Thomas B. Raterman purchased 20,460 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.61 per share, with a total value of $237,540.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 179,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,089,393.65. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Ocm Growth Holdings Llc sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.33, for a total transaction of $11,330,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,492,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $175,526,263.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas B. Raterman purchased 20,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.61 per share, for a total transaction of $237,540.60. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 179,965 shares in the company, valued at $2,089,393.65. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. B. Riley downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $13.50 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Runway Growth Finance from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $13.50 to $12.50 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Runway Growth Finance from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Runway Growth Finance currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Runway Growth Finance Company Profile

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.