New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Sets New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• New Mountain Finance shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $6.70 and down 1.4%, below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: four analysts rate the stock Hold and one rates it Sell, resulting in a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $8.25.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.26 in line with estimates, but revenue of $39.02 million fell well short of the $62.78 million consensus estimate; its $0.25 quarterly dividend implies a 14.8% yield.

New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $6.70 and last traded at $6.7250, with a volume of 26903 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on NMFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on New Mountain Finance from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on New Mountain Finance from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $8.25.

New Mountain Finance Trading Down 1.4%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a current ratio of 3.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $637.07 million, a P/E ratio of -14.31 and a beta of 0.60.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26. The company had revenue of $39.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.78 million. New Mountain Finance had a positive return on equity of 10.94% and a negative net margin of 16.78%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. On average, analysts predict that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.8%. New Mountain Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -212.77%.

Institutional Trading of New Mountain Finance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 2.1% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 283,303 shares of the company's stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,694 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in New Mountain Finance during the second quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its stake in New Mountain Finance by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,125,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,071,000 after buying an additional 254,361 shares during the period. Finally, Rivernorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,008,000. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corporation is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to established middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately held businesses through senior secured loans, unitranche loans, subordinated debt and other debt securities, and may also make equity investments.

New Mountain Finance generally focuses on companies with strong market positions, recurring revenue and experienced management teams. Its investments span a range of industries and are intended to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives and other corporate purposes.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.