New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC Position Increased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 742,423 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 88,441 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in New Mountain Finance were worth $6,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NMFC. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 36.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 711,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,843,000 after acquiring an additional 191,518 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 45.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 35,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 11,018 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance during the second quarter worth $172,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance during the second quarter worth $199,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance during the second quarter worth $2,303,000. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on NMFC shares. Weiss Ratings lowered New Mountain Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research upgraded New Mountain Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Mountain Finance has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven B. Klinsky bought 276,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.05 per share, for a total transaction of $2,223,748.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,370,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,235,406.90. This represents a 5.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adam B. Weinstein purchased 12,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.61 per share, for a total transaction of $98,169.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 751,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,720,863.16. The trade was a 1.75% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 512,900 shares of company stock worth $4,123,169. Corporate insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

NASDAQ NMFC opened at $7.83 on Friday. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $11.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market cap of $739.54 million, a P/E ratio of -13.50 and a beta of 0.54.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. New Mountain Finance had a positive return on equity of 11.14% and a negative net margin of 18.65%.The company had revenue of $41.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.76 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Mountain Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -220.69%.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides customized debt and equity capital solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940, New Mountain Finance invests in sponsor-backed and founder-led businesses that span a range of industry sectors, with a focus on companies demonstrating resilient growth and recurring revenue streams.

The company’s investment portfolio typically includes first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien and junior debt instruments, mezzanine financing and equity co-investments.