Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.70.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RWAY. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $9.50 price objective (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Runway Growth Finance to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RWAY. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 1st quarter worth $63,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth $113,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth $114,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth $116,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RWAY opened at $10.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $383.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.68. Runway Growth Finance has a 12 month low of $8.35 and a 12 month high of $12.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $35.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.83 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 45.30% and a return on equity of 11.95%. Analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.85%. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.52%.

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.