WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) Increases Dividend to $0.25 Per Share

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) announced a None dividend on Tuesday, October 15th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.245 per share by the investment management company on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from WhiteHorse Finance’s previous None dividend of $0.14.

WhiteHorse Finance has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.4% per year over the last three years. WhiteHorse Finance has a dividend payout ratio of 104.8% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. 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 Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WhiteHorse Finance stock opened at $12.15 on Wednesday. WhiteHorse Finance has a 12-month low of $10.95 and a 12-month high of $13.44. The company has a market cap of $282.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.24.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) last announced its quarterly 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). WhiteHorse Finance had a return on equity of 13.12% and a net margin of 22.73%. The firm had revenue of $23.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that WhiteHorse Finance will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of WhiteHorse Finance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of WhiteHorse Finance from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WhiteHorse Finance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.