New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Dividend Announcement

Shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. 643,238 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 62% from the previous session’s volume of 396,875 shares.The stock last traded at $11.37 and had previously closed at $11.33.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from New Mountain Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. New Mountain Finance’s payout ratio is presently 121.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of New Mountain Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

New Mountain Finance Trading Down 2.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $95.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.10 million. New Mountain Finance had a net margin of 30.28% and a return on equity of 11.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that New Mountain Finance Co. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Mountain Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 0.7% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 325,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after buying an additional 2,389 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 1.1% in the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 428,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 4,756 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 8.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,249,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,980,000 after purchasing an additional 168,719 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in New Mountain Finance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of New Mountain Finance by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 25,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.08% of the company’s stock.

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.