Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Receives $8.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.20.

RWAY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, June 15th.

Runway Growth Finance Price Performance

RWAY opened at $5.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.89 million, a PE ratio of -60.67 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.93. Runway Growth Finance has a 1 year low of $5.19 and a 1 year high of $11.20.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.02). Runway Growth Finance had a negative net margin of 2.00% and a positive return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $29.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.46 million. Research analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 24.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,466.67%.

Institutional Trading of Runway Growth Finance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RWAY. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Runway Growth Finance by 92.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 74,437.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares in the last quarter. 64.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.