Raymond James Financial Upgrades WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) to Outperform

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) was upgraded by equities researchers at Raymond James Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $9.00 target price on the investment management company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.88% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WHF. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of WhiteHorse Finance from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of WhiteHorse Finance in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on WhiteHorse Finance from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.83.

WhiteHorse Finance Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ WHF opened at $7.70 on Thursday. WhiteHorse Finance has a one year low of $6.07 and a one year high of $7.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $7.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 0.39.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) last announced 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). WhiteHorse Finance had a net margin of 26.88% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $14.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.66 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WhiteHorse Finance will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of WhiteHorse Finance

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WHF. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,240,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of WhiteHorse Finance during the second quarter worth $1,172,000. Lalia Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of WhiteHorse Finance in the second quarter valued at $4,776,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of WhiteHorse Finance in the second quarter valued at $117,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $294,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.20% of the company’s stock.

About WhiteHorse Finance

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc (NASDAQ: WHF) is a business development company that provides financing to privately owned, primarily lower-middle-market companies. The company seeks to generate income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation through investments in a range of industries.

WhiteHorse Finance primarily invests in senior secured loans, including first-lien and second-lien loans, as well as subordinated debt and selected equity investments. Its financing may support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, refinancing transactions and other general corporate purposes.

The company focuses mainly on U.S.-based middle-market businesses and works with companies that may have limited access to traditional bank financing.