New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on NMFC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research downgraded New Mountain Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.25.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NMFC opened at $7.50 on Friday. New Mountain Finance has a twelve month low of $7.47 and a twelve month high of $11.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $773.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.00 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Mountain Finance

In other news, EVP Adam B. Weinstein bought 12,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $7.61 per share, for a total transaction of $98,169.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 751,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,720,863.16. This trade represents a 1.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Laura C. Holson Boswerger purchased 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.74 per share, for a total transaction of $96,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 81,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,172.20. The trade was a 18.24% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 1,200,673 shares of company stock valued at $9,662,634 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NMFC. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of New Mountain Finance by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,986,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,508,000 after purchasing an additional 353,062 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 4.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,589,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,966,000 after purchasing an additional 115,004 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,038,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,776,000 after purchasing an additional 443,016 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in New Mountain Finance by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,541,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,194,000 after buying an additional 385,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rivernorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in New Mountain Finance during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,326,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.08% of the company’s stock.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed business development company (BDC) that provides customized debt and equity capital solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940, New Mountain Finance invests in sponsor-backed and founder-led businesses that span a range of industry sectors, with a focus on companies demonstrating resilient growth and recurring revenue streams.

The company’s investment portfolio typically includes first-lien senior secured loans, second-lien and junior debt instruments, mezzanine financing and equity co-investments.