New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Key Points

• New Mountain Finance has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell," signaling decreased investor confidence.
• The company's stock has a current price target of $10.50, with Bank of America lowering its price objective to $10.00.
• Insider transactions indicate a significant investment, with Director Steven B. Klinsky purchasing over 106,000 shares at an average price of $9.78 per share.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

NMFC has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer set a $11.00 price objective on shares of New Mountain Finance and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $11.75) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, New Street Research set a $10.00 price objective on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, New Mountain Finance currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $10.50.

New Mountain Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NMFC opened at $9.54 on Monday. New Mountain Finance has a 1 year low of $8.84 and a 1 year high of $12.05. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.05 and a 200-day moving average of $10.27.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other New Mountain Finance news, Director Steven B. Klinsky acquired 106,691 shares of New Mountain Finance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $1,043,437.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,370,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,746,981.46. The trade was a 2.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adam B. Weinstein acquired 49,750 shares of New Mountain Finance stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.03 per share, with a total value of $498,992.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 652,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,544,474.70. This trade represents a 8.25% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 157,191 shares of company stock valued at $1,550,035 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the second quarter worth $38,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in New Mountain Finance by 311.8% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,534 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in New Mountain Finance by 44.9% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,295 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in New Mountain Finance by 360.7% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,095 shares of the company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the second quarter worth $107,000. 32.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Company 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.

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