Insider Buying: WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) CEO Acquires 15,000 Shares of Stock

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WHF) CEO Stuart Aronson bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.41 per share, for a total transaction of $96,150.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 127,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,070. This trade represents a 13.39% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

WhiteHorse Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WHF traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.36. The company had a trading volume of 80,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,584. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $7.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.07. WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.07 and a fifty-two week high of $9.66.

WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The investment management company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.35 million. WhiteHorse Finance had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 9.47%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

WhiteHorse Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. WhiteHorse Finance’s payout ratio is presently 243.90%.

Institutional Trading of WhiteHorse Finance

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lalia Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WhiteHorse Finance during the fourth quarter valued at $4,628,000. CastleKnight Management LP purchased a new position in WhiteHorse Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $2,033,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its position in WhiteHorse Finance by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 243,940 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 21,486 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in WhiteHorse Finance by 27.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 231,140 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after buying an additional 49,893 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in WhiteHorse Finance by 92.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 185,004 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after buying an additional 88,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded WhiteHorse Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WhiteHorse Finance has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.75.

WhiteHorse Finance Company Profile

WhiteHorse Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: WHF) is a closed-end management investment company organized as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The firm’s primary objective is to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by making debt and equity investments in privately held middle-market companies. WhiteHorse Finance seeks to partner with established businesses across a range of industries, providing flexible financing solutions designed to support growth initiatives, acquisitions and recapitalizations.

The company’s investment portfolio predominantly comprises senior secured loans, second-lien debt, subordinated debt and select equity interests.