Home Capital’s outlook still cloudy

Article Excerpt

HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $16 (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 80.3 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; Dividend suspended in May 2017; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.homecapital.com) is a mortgage lender serving borrowers who fail to meet the stricter standards of Canada’s big banks and other larger, traditional lenders. The stock is down 6% since the start of 2018. That’s mainly due to concerns that more stringent mortgage lending rules for uninsured buyers and higher interest rates could hurt demand for new loans. The recent rise in interest rates has also forced Home Capital to increase the rates it pays on GICs and other deposits. Those factors will likely squeeze its profit margins, and make it more difficult to pay back $475 million of notes due in March 2018. Home Capital Group is still a hold. hold…