WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) Stock Lifted to "Buy" by B. Riley Financial

Key Points

• B. Riley upgraded WhiteHorse Finance to “Buy” from “Neutral” and set a $9 price target, implying 11.75% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $8.50; JPMorgan raised its target to $7.50 but maintained an “Underweight” rating.
• WhiteHorse’s latest reported quarter missed estimates, with EPS of $0.22 versus a consensus estimate of $0.25 and revenue of $14.37 million versus forecasts of $15.66 million.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at B. Riley Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $9.00 target price on the investment management company's stock. B. Riley Financial's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.75% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of WhiteHorse Finance from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WhiteHorse Finance from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of WhiteHorse Finance from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.50.

WhiteHorse Finance Price Performance

WhiteHorse Finance stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.05. The company had a trading volume of 163,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,519. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $7.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.04. WhiteHorse Finance has a 1 year low of $6.07 and a 1 year high of $8.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $173.00 million, a P/E ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.37.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The investment management company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $14.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.66 million. WhiteHorse Finance had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 26.88%. On average, equities analysts predict that WhiteHorse Finance will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WhiteHorse Finance

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in WhiteHorse Finance during the 3rd quarter worth $123,000. Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of WhiteHorse Finance during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Arlington Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,240,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,172,000. 13.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about WhiteHorse Finance

Here are the key news stories impacting WhiteHorse Finance this week:

• Positive Sentiment: WhiteHorse declared a quarterly distribution of $0.25 per share, equal to $1.00 annualized and a stated yield of 12.3%. The distribution is payable January 6 to shareholders of record December 21. Press release
• Neutral Sentiment: Management expects a sale of Chase in the next two to four months, while a special committee’s review continues. A potential sale could bring clarity, but the review and timing leave uncertainty. Chase sale update
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter EPS was $0.22, below analyst estimates of $0.24–$0.25 and down from $0.26 a year earlier. Revenue of $14.83 million also missed expectations of $15.19 million, signaling weaker-than-expected quarterly performance. Q3 earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target from $6.50 to $7.50 but kept an “underweight” rating, indicating it still sees downside relative to the cited $7.89 share price.

About WhiteHorse Finance

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. is a business development company that provides financing to privately owned, middle-market businesses in the United States. The company primarily invests in senior secured loans, including first-lien and unitranche loans, and may also provide second-lien and subordinated debt financing. In addition to debt investments, WhiteHorse Finance may make equity investments and co-investments alongside its lending activities. Its portfolio generally supports acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, growth initiatives and other corporate purposes for middle-market companies across a range of industries.

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