Runway Growth Finance Corp. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 (NASDAQ:RWAY)

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th.

Runway Growth Finance has a dividend payout ratio of 88.9% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research analysts expect Runway Growth Finance to earn $1.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 87.9%.

Runway Growth Finance Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:RWAY traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.39. 219,722 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,379. The firm has a market capitalization of $501.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. Runway Growth Finance has a twelve month low of $10.47 and a twelve month high of $13.74.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $39.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.26 million. Runway Growth Finance had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 27.00%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Runway Growth Finance

In related news, insider Thomas B. Raterman purchased 20,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.61 per share, with a total value of $237,540.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 179,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,089,393.65. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Runway Growth Finance news, insider Thomas B. Raterman bought 20,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.61 per share, with a total value of $237,540.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 179,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,089,393.65. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO R David Spreng bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.88 per share, with a total value of $59,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 64,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,640.16. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on RWAY shares. B. Riley downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $13.50 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $13.50 to $12.50 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $12.75 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.05.

About Runway Growth Finance

Runway Growth Finance Corp. is a business development company specializing investments in senior-secured loans to late stage and growth companies. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the technology, life sciences, healthcare and information services, business services and select consumer services and products sectors.