New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Sets New 1-Year Low - Here's What Happened

New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $9.98 and last traded at $10.01, with a volume of 896864 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of New Mountain Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

New Mountain Finance Trading Up 8.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $11.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.42.

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

New Mountain Finance Cuts Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. New Mountain Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently 123.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Ogens bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.44 per share, with a total value of $57,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 179,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,047,988.80. The trade was a 2.87 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of New Mountain Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in New Mountain Finance by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 260,572 shares of the company's stock worth $2,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in New Mountain Finance by 2.1% in the first quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 438,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,839,000 after buying an additional 8,876 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in New Mountain Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $607,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,359,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 16,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 32.08% of the company's stock.

New Mountain Finance Company Profile

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.