Sanders Morris Harris LLC Decreases Stake in New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC reduced its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,375 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in New Mountain Finance were worth $206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 2.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,823,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,811,000 after purchasing an additional 100,315 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,376,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 237,594 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of New Mountain Finance by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,249,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,980,000 after buying an additional 168,719 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,258,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,081,000 after buying an additional 15,988 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in New Mountain Finance by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 456,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,591,000 after buying an additional 23,406 shares in the last quarter. 32.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Price Performance

Shares of NMFC stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $11.13. The stock had a trading volume of 9,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,097. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $11.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.82. New Mountain Finance Co. has a one year low of $10.61 and a one year high of $13.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.15. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $95.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. New Mountain Finance’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that New Mountain Finance Co. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. 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 11.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. New Mountain Finance’s payout ratio is presently 121.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on New Mountain Finance from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Mountain Finance

In other news, CEO John Kline bought 41,550 shares of New Mountain Finance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.92 per share, with a total value of $453,726.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 351,783 shares in the company, valued at $3,841,470.36. The trade was a 13.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven B. Klinsky purchased 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.74 per share, with a total value of $28,176.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,118,522 shares in the company, valued at $48,351,448.28. This trade represents a 0.06 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 324,530 shares of company stock worth $3,603,675 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.34% 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.