Small lender serves a growing market

Article Excerpt

HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $48 (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 34.7 million; Market cap; $1.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.homecapital.com) is a mortgage lender that serves borrowers who don’t meet the stricter standards of larger, traditional lenders, like banks. Even though Home Capital caters to riskier borrowers, it avoids huge credit losses by identifying problem loans early. It then uses this information to restructure a borrower’s repayment terms and adjust its lending policies. In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Home Capital’s earnings rose 10.4%, to $53.2 million, or $1.54 a share. That’s despite a higher corporate tax rate in Ontario, which cut Home Capital’s earnings by $2.0 million. A year earlier, the company earned $48.2 million, or $1.38 a share. Low interest rates and rising real estate values continue to fuel demand for mortgages and other loans. That pushed up Home Capital’s revenue by 10.2%, to $218.8 million from $198.6…