Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemWall Street Zen downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.
A number of other analysts have also recently commented on RWAY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $9.50 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Zacks Research cut Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Runway Growth Finance from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Runway Growth Finance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.60.
View Our Latest Research Report on RWAY
Runway Growth Finance Stock Down 2.7%
Shares of NASDAQ:RWAY opened at $6.84 on Friday. Runway Growth Finance has a one year low of $6.61 and a one year high of $11.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.43 and a 200-day moving average of $9.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $247.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 0.70.
Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $30.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.60 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 24.79% and a return on equity of 11.52%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.
Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.3%. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 143.48%.
Institutional Trading of Runway Growth Finance
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RWAY. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $108,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 31,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 3,345 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 89.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 31,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 14,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 43,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 20,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.