Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Receives $10.70 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.70.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on RWAY shares. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $9.50 target price (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Runway Growth Finance to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

Shares of Runway Growth Finance stock traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $10.31. 232,749 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 316,144. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $9.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $385.08 million, a P/E ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 0.68. Runway Growth Finance has a 12-month low of $8.35 and a 12-month high of $12.09.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $35.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.83 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 45.30% and a return on equity of 11.95%. Analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Runway Growth Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PharVision Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 63.8% in the 1st quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC now owns 16,894 shares of the company's stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 6,578 shares during the last quarter. Ares Management LLC grew its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 459,943 shares of the company's stock worth $4,760,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Runway Growth Finance in the 1st quarter worth $689,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 52.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,252 shares of the company's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 7,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 117.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,979 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 3,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.61% of the company's stock.

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.