MQS Management LLC Reduces Stake in New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC

MQS Management LLC reduced its stake in New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,633 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,672 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in New Mountain Finance were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,764,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,488,000 after purchasing an additional 346,508 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 36.9% during the 1st 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. Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 75.3% during the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 291,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,217,000 after purchasing an additional 125,230 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 92.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 232,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 111,615 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,091,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,039,000 after purchasing an additional 105,559 shares during the period. 32.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

NMFC stock opened at $9.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.22. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a 1 year low of $8.84 and a 1 year high of $12.05.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $83.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.57 million. New Mountain Finance had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 23.27%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at New Mountain Finance

In related news, EVP Adam B. Weinstein purchased 49,750 shares of New Mountain Finance stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.03 per share, with a total value of $498,992.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 652,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,544,474.70. This trade represents a 8.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven B. Klinsky purchased 106,691 shares of New Mountain Finance stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $1,043,437.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,370,857 shares in the company, valued at $42,746,981.46. This represents a 2.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 157,191 shares of company stock worth $1,550,035 in the last ninety days. 11.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 price target (down from $11.75) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Monday, September 15th. New Street Research set a $10.00 price target on New Mountain Finance in a report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research cut New Mountain Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Oppenheimer set a $11.00 price target on New Mountain Finance and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of New Mountain Finance in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

New Mountain Finance 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.