WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 338,100 shares, a growth of 57.0% from the February 28th total of 215,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 97,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WhiteHorse Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WHF. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new stake in shares of WhiteHorse Finance during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WhiteHorse Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $101,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in WhiteHorse Finance by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WhiteHorse Finance in the 4th quarter worth about $154,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of WhiteHorse Finance by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,418 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on WhiteHorse Finance from $9.50 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

WhiteHorse Finance Stock Performance

WhiteHorse Finance stock opened at $9.54 on Monday. WhiteHorse Finance has a fifty-two week low of $9.45 and a fifty-two week high of $13.44. The company has a market capitalization of $221.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The investment management company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). WhiteHorse Finance had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 12.86%. The firm had revenue of $21.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that WhiteHorse Finance will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WhiteHorse Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.14%. WhiteHorse Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 327.66%.

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.