Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.40.

RWAY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, June 15th.

Runway Growth Finance Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Runway Growth Finance stock opened at $6.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Runway Growth Finance has a 52 week low of $5.19 and a 52 week high of $10.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.77 million, a PE ratio of 59.82 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $37.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.06 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 11.73%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 20.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,200.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Carmela Thomson bought 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $6.97 per share, for a total transaction of $55,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,494.80. The trade was a 165.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 52.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 7,299 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 4.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 704.0% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 102,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 90,112 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 32.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 379,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,068,000 after acquiring an additional 93,755 shares in the last quarter. 64.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.