Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.20.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

Shares of Runway Growth Finance stock opened at $6.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.28 and a beta of 0.66. Runway Growth Finance has a twelve month low of $5.19 and a twelve month high of $11.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.80.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last announced 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. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $37.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 million. Analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

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

About Runway Growth Finance

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.