Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on RWAY. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Runway Growth Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 report on Friday, March 13th. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on Runway Growth Finance from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Runway Growth Finance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.60.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:RWAY opened at $6.84 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $8.43 and its 200-day moving average is $9.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Runway Growth Finance has a 52 week low of $6.61 and a 52 week high of $11.40. The company has a market capitalization of $247.13 million, a PE ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. North Ground Capital increased its holdings in Runway Growth Finance by 48.6% in the third quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 775,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,874,000 after purchasing an additional 253,500 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the third quarter valued at about $13,842,000. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance during the third quarter worth about $4,145,000. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 122,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 6,231 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the 3rd quarter worth about $962,000. 64.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.