North Ground Capital Invests $4.08 Billion in Runway Growth Finance Corp. $RWAY

North Ground Capital acquired a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 728,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,080,000. Runway Growth Finance accounts for about 4.9% of North Ground Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in RWAY. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the 2nd quarter worth about $56,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 92.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 74,437.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RWAY. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Runway Growth Finance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.40.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RWAY opened at $6.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.64. Runway Growth Finance Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $5.19 and a fifty-two week high of $10.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.28 million, a PE ratio of 60.37 and a beta of 0.66.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $37.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.06 million. Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. Sell-side analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance Corp. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is 1,200.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Carmela Thomson acquired 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.97 per share, with a total value of $55,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,494.80. The trade was a 165.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.