Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $9.50 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Runway Growth Finance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.60.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Runway Growth Finance stock opened at $7.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.36 million, a P/E ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.28. Runway Growth Finance has a 12-month low of $6.61 and a 12-month high of $11.40.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 24.79% and a return on equity of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $30.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.60 million. Equities analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Runway Growth Finance’s payout ratio is currently 143.48%.

Institutional Trading of Runway Growth Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the second quarter valued at $51,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 92.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 74,437.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the period. 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.