HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 725,622 Shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance Co. (NASDAQ:NMFC) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,651,080 shares of the company’s stock after selling 725,622 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 2.46% of New Mountain Finance worth $29,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NMFC. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 35,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Mountain Finance by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 429,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of New Mountain Finance in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 5.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 47,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 2,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 31,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 3,708 shares during the last quarter. 32.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

New Mountain Finance Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:NMFC opened at $11.16 on Friday. New Mountain Finance Co. has a 52 week low of $10.61 and a 52 week high of $12.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 1.16.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $92.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.23 million. New Mountain Finance had a net margin of 30.28% and a return on equity of 11.25%. On average, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.47%. New Mountain Finance’s payout ratio is currently 123.08%.

Insider Activity at New Mountain Finance

In other news, Director Steven B. Klinsky acquired 72,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.28 per share, for a total transaction of $815,318.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,285,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,340,496.40. This trade represents a 1.72 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Ogens bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.44 per share, with a total value of $57,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 179,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,047,988.80. The trade was a 2.87 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 10.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.