Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Hold (C-) Rating for New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a Hold (C-) rating for New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC), indicating a cautious outlook on the stock.
• Bank of America has revised its target price for NMFC from $11.75 to $10.00, reflecting an underperform rating, while Oppenheimer set a price target of $11.00 with a market perform rating.
• Insider purchases have been notable, with Director Steven B. Klinsky acquiring 106,691 shares at $9.78 each, increasing his stake in the company by 2.50%.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c-)" rating restated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down previously from $11.75) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Oppenheimer set a $11.00 price target on New Mountain Finance and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $10.60.

New Mountain Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NMFC opened at $9.25 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $10.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.32. New Mountain Finance has a 12-month low of $8.84 and a 12-month high of $12.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $983.83 million, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.79.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $83.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.57 million. New Mountain Finance had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 23.27%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that New Mountain Finance will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven B. Klinsky purchased 106,691 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $1,043,437.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,370,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,746,981.46. This trade represents a 2.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Adam B. Weinstein acquired 49,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 purchased 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 Trading of New Mountain Finance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NMFC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 46,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC boosted its stake in New Mountain Finance by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 232,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,565,000 after buying an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in New Mountain Finance by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 33,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC raised its position in New Mountain Finance by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 120,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 29,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 1st quarter valued at $4,674,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.08% of the company's stock.

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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