Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Runway Growth Finance from a "hold" to a "sell," and several other analysts have cut price targets or ratings; despite this, the consensus remains "Hold" with an average price target of $9.00.
• The company missed quarterly estimates (EPS $0.32 vs. $0.36 expected; revenue $30.04M vs. $31.60M) and the stock trades around $6.77 with a market cap of $244.6M and a P/E of 7.36, near its 52‑week low of $6.37.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Runway Growth Finance from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research cut Runway Growth Finance from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Runway Growth Finance from $9.50 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Runway Growth Finance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.00.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

NASDAQ:RWAY opened at $6.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $7.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.72. The stock has a market cap of $244.60 million, a PE ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.72. Runway Growth Finance has a 52 week low of $6.37 and a 52 week high of $11.40.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $30.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.60 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 24.79% and a return on equity of 11.52%. As a group, analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 4.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 2.2% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 46,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 5.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 18.2% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 11,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 9.3% during the third quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC now owns 22,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 1,955 shares during the period. 64.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Runway Growth Finance

Runway Growth Finance, Inc is a publicly traded business development company that provides customized debt and equity financing solutions to high‐growth, venture‐backed companies. The firm specializes in structuring senior secured loans, unitranche facilities, second‐lien financings, convertible notes and equity co‐investments designed to extend the cash runway for late‐stage companies. Runway’s flexible capital offerings are aimed at supporting technology, life sciences and other innovation‐driven sectors as they pursue growth initiatives and prepare for liquidity events.

Originally launched in 2017 under the name Saratoga Investment Corp., the company rebranded as Runway Growth Finance in 2020 following the acquisition of an established middle‐market credit manager.

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.