New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $7.05 and last traded at $7.07, with a volume of 826789 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on New Mountain Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised New Mountain Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered New Mountain Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, New Mountain Finance has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $9.25.

New Mountain Finance Stock Down 1.3%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $667.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.19 and a beta of 0.54.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $41.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.76 million. New Mountain Finance had a negative net margin of 18.65% and a positive return on equity of 11.14%. New Mountain Finance’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. New Mountain Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -172.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in New Mountain Finance by 36.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 711,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,843,000 after purchasing an additional 191,518 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in New Mountain Finance by 45.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 35,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 11,018 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $172,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $199,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,303,000. 32.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.