New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.1667.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NMFC. Zacks Research raised New Mountain Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $11.75) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Monday, September 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on New Mountain Finance from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. New Street Research set a $10.00 price target on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

NASDAQ:NMFC opened at $9.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. New Mountain Finance has a one year low of $8.84 and a one year high of $12.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.06. The stock has a market cap of $988.27 million, a P/E ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 0.57.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. New Mountain Finance had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $80.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 17th. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio is 196.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Mountain Finance

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in New Mountain Finance by 3.8% in the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 32,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 2.9% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 48,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA increased its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 5.1% during the second quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 28,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 4.0% during the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Company Profile

New Mountain Finance Corporation (Nasdaq: NMFC), a business development company is a private equity / buyouts and loan fund specializes in directly investing and lending to middle market companies in defensive growth industries. The fund prefers investing in buyout and middle market companies. It also makes investments in debt securities at all levels of the capital structure including first and second lien debt, unsecured notes, and mezzanine securities.