Small lender carves out a profitable niche

Article Excerpt

HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $44 (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 69.5 million; Market cap; $3.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. homecapital.com) gets around 90% of its revenue by making residential mortgage loans to borrowers who don’t meet the stricter standards of larger, traditional lenders, like banks. Its clients include recent immigrants with limited credit histories, and self-employed people. The remaining 10% of Home Capital’s revenue mainly comes from credit cards and other loans to consumers and businesses. Low interest rates continue to fuel loan demand. As a result, Home Capital’s revenue rose 7.0% in 2013, to $949.5 million from $887.7 million in 2012. Earnings gained 14.8%, to $257.7 million, or $3.68 a share, from $224.6 million, or $3.23. (All per-share amounts adjusted for a 2-for-1 stock split in March 2014.) Home Capital cuts its credit losses by identifying problem loans early. It then uses this information to restructure a..