New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 909,000 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the April 30th total of 742,400 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 401,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Hovde Group lowered their price target on New Mountain Finance to $12.50 in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on New Mountain Finance in a research report on Monday, February 7th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.
NMFC stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 175,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 353,033. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $13.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.45. New Mountain Finance has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $14.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 1.24.
New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $68.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.25 million. New Mountain Finance had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 68.37%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that New Mountain Finance will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.20%. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.18%.
In other news, CAO Adam Weinstein purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $312,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 366,398 shares in the company, valued at $4,579,975. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Hartswell acquired 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.65 per share, with a total value of $56,925.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 10,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,308.95. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 66,100 shares of company stock valued at $835,668 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.10% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NMFC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in New Mountain Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $42,510,000. Round Table Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Round Table Services LLC now owns 2,976,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,219,000 after buying an additional 209,532 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,098,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,064,000 after buying an additional 43,500 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 45.7% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,087,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,905,000 after acquiring an additional 654,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cliffwater LLC grew its position in New Mountain Finance by 12.1% in the first quarter. Cliffwater LLC now owns 1,204,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,687,000 after acquiring an additional 129,653 shares during the period. 30.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About New Mountain Finance (Get Rating)
New Mountain Finance Corporation (Nasdaq: NMFC), a business development company is a private equity / buyouts and loan fund specializes in directly investing and lending to middle market companies in defensive growth industries. The fund prefers investing in buyout and middle market companies. It also makes investments in debt securities at all levels of the capital structure including first and second lien debt, unsecured notes and mezzanine securities.
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