Legal & General Group Plc Has $8.04 Million Stock Position in New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 713,975 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,734 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.66% of New Mountain Finance worth $8,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 1,929.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 985,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,101,000 after acquiring an additional 937,331 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in New Mountain Finance by 139.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 137,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 80,309 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in New Mountain Finance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $305,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its position in New Mountain Finance by 107.9% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 26,291 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 13,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 139.2% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 166,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 96,831 shares in the last quarter. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on New Mountain Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

New Mountain Finance Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ NMFC traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, hitting $9.87. 263,469 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 465,667. The company's 50-day moving average price is $10.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 0.84. New Mountain Finance Co. has a 52-week low of $8.84 and a 52-week high of $12.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). New Mountain Finance had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 30.28%. The company had revenue of $92.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.23 million. Research analysts predict that New Mountain Finance Co. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.97%. New Mountain Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently 123.08%.

Insider Activity at New Mountain Finance

In related news, Director David Ogens purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.44 per share, for a total transaction of $57,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 179,020 shares in the company, valued at $2,047,988.80. The trade was a 2.87 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About New Mountain Finance

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.