Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Announces Earnings Results

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) released its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.04), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $39.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.26 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 27.00% and a return on equity of 13.70%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS.

Runway Growth Finance Trading Down 14.4 %

Shares of RWAY traded down $1.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.56. 2,659,856 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 263,273. Runway Growth Finance has a 52-week low of $10.47 and a 52-week high of $13.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.86. The firm has a market cap of $468.30 million, a P/E ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.26%. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 145.45%.

Insider Activity at Runway Growth Finance

In related news, Director Ocm Growth Holdings Llc sold 12,365 shares of Runway Growth Finance stock in a transaction on Monday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.76, for a total value of $157,777.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,492,168 shares in the company, valued at $210,440,063.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 812,500 shares of company stock worth $9,957,116. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Runway Growth Finance

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Putnam Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the third quarter worth about $204,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 32.2% during the second quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 17,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 4,385 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the third quarter worth about $197,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the third quarter worth about $177,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the third quarter worth about $173,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RWAY has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Runway Growth Finance from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $13.50 to $12.50 in a research report on Friday. TheStreet raised Runway Growth Finance from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Runway Growth Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. B. Riley cut Runway Growth Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $14.50 to $13.50 in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.95.

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.