Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.04), Zacks reports. The company 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 13.70% and a net margin of 27.00%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Shares of RWAY stock traded down $1.94 on Friday, hitting $11.56. 2,659,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 263,273. The company has a market capitalization of $468.30 million, a PE ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $13.18 and its 200 day moving average is $12.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Runway Growth Finance has a 1-year low of $10.47 and a 1-year high of $13.74.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RWAY. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 18,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 5.3% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 34,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 1,733 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 42.9% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 2,155 shares in the last quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 342.0% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares in the last quarter.

Runway Growth Finance Company Profile

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.