New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $7.22, but opened at $6.93. New Mountain Finance shares last traded at $6.9840, with a volume of 40,556 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NMFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on New Mountain Finance from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on New Mountain Finance from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $8.25.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $673.44 million, a PE ratio of -15.17 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.66.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The business had revenue of $39.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.78 million. New Mountain Finance had a positive return on equity of 10.94% and a negative net margin of 16.78%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. New Mountain Finance’s payout ratio is -212.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Mountain Finance

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,450,000. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in New Mountain Finance in the fourth quarter valued at $5,398,000. LSV Asset Management grew its position in New Mountain Finance by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,986,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,508,000 after acquiring an additional 353,062 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in New Mountain Finance by 19.4% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,145,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,380,000 after acquiring an additional 348,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP raised its stake in New Mountain Finance by 29.2% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,125,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,071,000 after acquiring an additional 254,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.08% of the company’s stock.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: NMFC) is a business development company that provides financing to middle-market businesses. The company invests primarily in debt securities, including senior secured loans, unitranche loans and subordinated debt, and may also make equity investments. Its investments are generally structured to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives and other corporate activities.

New Mountain Finance focuses on companies operating in defensive growth industries, such as business services, healthcare, software and technology, and other sectors it believes have resilient demand and favorable long-term trends.