Legal & General Group Plc Takes $1.56 Million Position in Runway Growth Finance Corp. $RWAY

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 278,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Runway Growth Finance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the second quarter worth $51,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Runway Growth Finance during the second quarter worth $56,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 64.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Runway Growth Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RWAY opened at $6.65 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $6.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.48. The stock has a market cap of $278.70 million, a P/E ratio of 60.46 and a beta of 0.70. Runway Growth Finance Corp. has a 52-week low of $5.19 and a 52-week high of $10.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.14. Runway Growth Finance had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $37.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Runway Growth Finance Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Runway Growth Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 19.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Runway Growth Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,200.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RWAY shares. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Runway Growth Finance in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Runway Growth Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Runway Growth Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research raised Runway Growth Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Runway Growth Finance to $6.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Carmela Thomson bought 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.97 per share, with a total value of $55,760.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 12,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,494.80. This represents a 165.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Runway Growth Finance Company Profile

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.