Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 168,719 Shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC - Free Report) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,249,321 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 168,719 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 2.09% of New Mountain Finance worth $25,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Quarry LP grew its position in New Mountain Finance by 68.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in New Mountain Finance in the 1st quarter valued at $126,000. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ NMFC traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,246,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,886. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $11.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.21. New Mountain Finance Co. has a twelve month low of $10.61 and a twelve month high of $13.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.15.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). New Mountain Finance had a net margin of 30.28% and a return on equity of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $95.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. New Mountain Finance's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance Co. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from New Mountain Finance's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.36%. New Mountain Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

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.