New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on NMFC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. B. Riley Financial cut their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised New Mountain Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Mountain Finance has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.25.

New Mountain Finance Stock Down 1.1%

NMFC opened at $8.44 on Wednesday. New Mountain Finance has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $11.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.02 and a 200-day moving average of $8.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The company has a market capitalization of $797.16 million, a PE ratio of -14.55 and a beta of 0.57.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $41.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.76 million. New Mountain Finance had a negative net margin of 18.65% and a positive return on equity of 11.14%. New Mountain Finance’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that New Mountain Finance will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Adam B. Weinstein bought 12,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.61 per share, for a total transaction of $98,169.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 751,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,720,863.16. The trade was a 1.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven B. Klinsky bought 276,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.05 per share, for a total transaction of $2,223,748.10. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,370,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,235,406.90. This trade represents a 5.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought 1,200,673 shares of company stock worth $9,662,634 in the last quarter. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NMFC. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in New Mountain Finance by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 711,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,843,000 after buying an additional 191,518 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in New Mountain Finance by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 35,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 11,018 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $172,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $199,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in New Mountain Finance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,303,000. 32.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Company Profile

New Mountain Finance Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides customized debt and equity capital solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940, New Mountain Finance invests in sponsor-backed and founder-led businesses that span a range of industry sectors, with a focus on companies demonstrating resilient growth and recurring revenue streams.

The company’s investment portfolio typically includes first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien and junior debt instruments, mezzanine financing and equity co-investments.