Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.20.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RWAY. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut Runway Growth Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $9.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, June 15th.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Runway Growth Finance stock opened at $5.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.70 and a 200-day moving average of $6.88. The company has a market capitalization of $245.90 million, a P/E ratio of -64.33 and a beta of 0.66. Runway Growth Finance has a 1 year low of $5.19 and a 1 year high of $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.02). Runway Growth Finance had a positive return on equity of 10.87% and a negative net margin of 2.00%.The business had revenue of $29.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.46 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Runway Growth Finance will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Runway Growth Finance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the second quarter worth $51,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 92.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 74,437.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

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.