WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from analysts, with one analyst rating it as a sell and four giving hold ratings.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.28 per share, missing estimates, and had a revenue of $18.84 million, below analyst expectations.
• WhiteHorse Finance declared a quarterly dividend of $0.385 per share, representing a significant annualized yield of 18.0% despite a high dividend payout ratio of 1,026.67%.

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.00.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised WhiteHorse Finance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley dropped their price target on WhiteHorse Finance from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WhiteHorse Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WHF. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of WhiteHorse Finance by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,182 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $407,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in WhiteHorse Finance by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 42,772 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 2,273 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in WhiteHorse Finance by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,570 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 5,828 shares during the last quarter. 13.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WhiteHorse Finance Trading Up 0.4%

WhiteHorse Finance stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 44,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,082. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.87 and a 200-day moving average of $9.47. The stock has a market cap of $197.08 million, a PE ratio of 56.54 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.34. WhiteHorse Finance has a one year low of $8.36 and a one year high of $12.42.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The investment management company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $18.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.33 million. WhiteHorse Finance had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 10.72%. On average, research analysts anticipate that WhiteHorse Finance will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

WhiteHorse Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 18.2%. WhiteHorse Finance's dividend payout ratio is presently 1,026.67%.

About WhiteHorse Finance

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc is business development company, non-diversified, closed end management company specializing in originating senior secured loans, lower middle market, growth capital industries. It invests in broadline retail, office services and supplies, building products, health care services, health care supplies, research and consulting services, application software, home furnishings, specialized consumer services, data processing and outsourced services, leisure facilities, cable, and satellite.