Zacks Research Downgrades Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) to Strong Sell

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on RWAY. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Runway Growth Finance from $9.50 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.60.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Up 0.1%

RWAY stock opened at $7.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.28. Runway Growth Finance has a 12 month low of $6.61 and a 12 month high of $11.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.36 million, a P/E ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 0.70.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $30.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.60 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 24.79% and a return on equity of 11.52%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 4.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 2.2% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 46,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 5.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 18.2% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 11,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC raised its position in Runway Growth Finance by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC now owns 22,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955 shares during the last quarter. 64.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Runway Growth Finance Company Profile

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.