Cerity Partners LLC Sells 682,149 Shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,769,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 682,149 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in New Mountain Finance were worth $29,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NMFC. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in New Mountain Finance by 68.5% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 714,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after acquiring an additional 290,320 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 266.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 345,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,647,000 after purchasing an additional 251,596 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,303,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 711,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,843,000 after purchasing an additional 191,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its stake in New Mountain Finance by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 575,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,071,000 after buying an additional 182,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NMFC. New Street Research set a $10.00 price target on New Mountain Finance in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of New Mountain Finance from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of New Mountain Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, New Mountain Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.17.

Insider Transactions at New Mountain Finance

In related news, Director Steven B. Klinsky acquired 106,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.78 per share, with a total value of $1,043,437.98. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,370,857 shares in the company, valued at $42,746,981.46. This represents a 2.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adam B. Weinstein bought 49,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.03 per share, for a total transaction of $498,992.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 652,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,544,474.70. This trade represents a 8.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 11.71% of the company’s stock.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NMFC opened at $9.72 on Tuesday. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a twelve month low of $8.84 and a twelve month high of $12.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.48 and its 200 day moving average is $10.11.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $80.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $83.91 million. New Mountain Finance had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.2%. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 196.92%.

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.