Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 38.92% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $36.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.11 million.

Runway Growth Finance Trading Up 1.9%

RWAY traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.89. 338,706 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 306,290. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.24. Runway Growth Finance has a 52 week low of $8.35 and a 52 week high of $11.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Runway Growth Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio is 69.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RWAY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Runway Growth Finance from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Runway Growth Finance from $12.75 to $12.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Runway Growth Finance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Runway Growth Finance from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Runway Growth Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Runway Growth Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RWAY. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Runway Growth Finance by 52.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 7,299 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Runway Growth Finance by 704.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 102,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 90,112 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Runway Growth Finance by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 379,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,068,000 after buying an additional 93,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.61% of the company’s stock.

About Runway Growth Finance

Runway Growth Finance Corp. is a business development company specializing investments in senior-secured loans to late stage and growth companies. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the technology, life sciences, healthcare and information services, business services and select consumer services and products sectors.