New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $6.67 and last traded at $6.74, with a volume of 513,271 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded New Mountain Finance from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on New Mountain Finance from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $7.67.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $624.31 million, a PE ratio of -14.06 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.27 and its 200-day moving average is $7.53. 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. New Mountain Finance had a negative net margin of 16.78% and a positive return on equity of 10.94%. The company had revenue of $39.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.10 EPS for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.1%. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio is -212.77%.

Institutional Trading of New Mountain Finance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in New Mountain Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in New Mountain Finance in the first quarter worth approximately $71,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance during the first quarter worth $93,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance during the first quarter worth $122,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance during the second quarter worth $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.08% of the company’s stock.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corporation is a business development company (BDC) that provides financing to established middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately held businesses through senior secured loans, unitranche loans, subordinated debt and other debt securities, and may also make equity investments.

New Mountain Finance generally focuses on companies with strong market positions, recurring revenue and experienced management teams. Its investments span a range of industries and are intended to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives and other corporate purposes.