Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) saw a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,219,204 shares, a decline of 17.4% from the March 31st total of 3,898,266 shares. Approximately 9.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 903,795 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

RWAY traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $6.69. 223,214 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 509,407. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.53 million, a P/E ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.52. Runway Growth Finance has a 52-week low of $6.36 and a 52-week high of $11.40.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $30.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.60 million. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 24.79% and a return on equity of 11.52%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is 143.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RWAY. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,145,000. North Ground Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 775,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,874,000 after acquiring an additional 253,500 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,671,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,694,000 after acquiring an additional 261,768 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 135.2% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 106,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $947,000 after acquiring an additional 60,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC now owns 24,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on RWAY shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $9.50 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, B. Riley Financial reduced their price target on Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

About Runway Growth Finance

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.