Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Receives "Buy" Rating from B. Riley Financial

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Runway Growth Finance and raised its price target to $11 from $10, implying approximately 59% upside from the stock’s $6.91 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed overall: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $8.40, with two Buy, three Hold, and two Sell ratings.
• Runway Growth Finance exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.43 in EPS versus a $0.29 estimate and $37.03 million in revenue versus $31.06 million expected; institutional investors own 64.61% of the stock.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by research analysts at B. Riley Financial in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $11.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $10.00. B. Riley Financial's target price points to a potential upside of 59.30% from the stock's current price.

RWAY has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America cut shares of Runway Growth Finance from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Runway Growth Finance from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Runway Growth Finance from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Runway Growth Finance presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.40.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RWAY traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $6.91. 102,678 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 576,424. Runway Growth Finance has a 1 year low of $5.19 and a 1 year high of $11.02. The company has a market cap of $289.39 million, a P/E ratio of 62.59 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.76.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $37.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.06 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 11.73%. Equities analysts predict that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RWAY. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 10.3% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,843,232 shares of the company's stock worth $12,534,000 after buying an additional 171,872 shares in the last quarter. North Ground Capital grew its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 102.5% in the 4th quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 1,569,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,012,000 after buying an additional 794,050 shares in the last quarter. Bulldog Investors LLP increased its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Bulldog Investors LLP now owns 1,200,872 shares of the company's stock worth $10,724,000 after acquiring an additional 159,588 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 638,503 shares of the company's stock worth $5,702,000 after acquiring an additional 231,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 602,410 shares of the company's stock worth $6,120,000 after acquiring an additional 40,354 shares during the period. 64.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Runway Growth Finance Company Profile

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.

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