WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.39 Per Share

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) declared a — dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.385 per share by the investment management company on Friday, January 3rd. This represents a yield of 13.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This is a positive change from WhiteHorse Finance’s previous — dividend of $0.05.

WhiteHorse Finance has raised its dividend by an average of 8.4% annually over the last three years. WhiteHorse Finance has a dividend payout ratio of 104.8% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect WhiteHorse Finance to earn $1.48 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 104.1%.

WhiteHorse Finance Stock Down 4.6 %

WhiteHorse Finance stock opened at $11.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $257.30 million, a PE ratio of 24.60 and a beta of 1.28. WhiteHorse Finance has a fifty-two week low of $10.95 and a fifty-two week high of $13.44.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The investment management company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $23.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.72 million. WhiteHorse Finance had a net margin of 22.73% and a return on equity of 13.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that WhiteHorse Finance will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded WhiteHorse Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of WhiteHorse Finance in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of WhiteHorse Finance from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at WhiteHorse Finance

In related news, Director John Bolduc purchased 12,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.48 per share, with a total value of $145,486.04. Following the purchase, the director now owns 224,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,262.48. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WhiteHorse Finance Company Profile

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.