Stockchase Opinions

Jerome Hass Street Capital Group Inc SCB-T COMMENT Apr 16, 2014

Had a pretty big pull back. There was a fair amount of enthusiasm for the stock this summer so the question is, was that misplaced or not. Finds it to be very attractive at the current levels. Released their results at the end of March which he felt were quite good. There are some competitive pressures within the mortgage lending space. Announced about a year ago that they were going to clean up the business so it is now a holding company that holds one asset, Street Capital, a mortgage lender. Around April 28, you will be receiving shares in Heritage Global, which is currently trading in the US. Management does not know when to sell so leaving the decision to you.

$1.670

Stock price when the opinion was issued

0
It's the ideal tool to help you make quicker, more informed decisions for managing and tracking your investments.

You might be interested:

BUY

Non-bank lender. In operation over 5 years and now that 5 year mortgages are renewing they are getting an increase in profits. They are down vs. HCG-T. He might short HCG against CXS-T.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Aug 2/13. Down 16.69%.) This has been a disappointment, however this is a reasonable opportunity, but he would not buy it today.

COMMENT

Used to follow this and owned it, but got out when he got frustrated with how the market behaved. This is one of those stocks that would sell off for no reason. They put out good numbers and the stock would go down. This company is in the mortgage space and would be hurt by a housing correction. He is not interested in this one right now.

HOLD

There is a lot of attractive valuation in this stock. Have had a lot of costs this year in preparing for their bank license, and they don’t have any of the revenues. He is hopeful that when the bank license comes in, they will be able to capitalize on their investments.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Dec 16/13. Down 11.27%.) A perplexing one because they have actually delivered on their earnings this year, and are down compared to some of their peers. Thinks 2015 will be an interesting year for them. Expecting them to get their bank license in the 2nd half of the year. Generally, their business is going very, very well. A high growth business that is trading at about half the multiples of Home Capital (HCG-T).

COMMENT

A residential mortgage lender, but don’t actually take the mortgage on their own Book. They act as a facilitator between a financial institution that wants to lend money, and a borrower who wants to borrow money. They would administer it, but it would immediately go off their books, so they don’t have any default risks personally. It absolutely got pulverized by the market last year. It was down 24% in 2014 compared to their peers Home Capital Group (HCG-T) and Equitable Group (EQB-T), Equitable was up 29% and Home Capital was up 24%. Thinks it was really unfairly punished by the market. The Q3 numbers were the real catalysts for the stock, which very much surprised the street, so that in the last 3 months, there has been a recognition, and the company is up 28%, where Home Capital is down about 18% and Equitable Group is down about 14%. Probably trades at about half the valuation of its peers. Expects the stock to grow at about 30% this year and is trading at only 6X forward earnings.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick June 18/14. Up 27.47%.) Continues to like this. They are #4 in terms of their market share as a residential mortgage lender in Canada, just behind Home Capital Group (HCG-T). They have about $21 billion on mortgages under their administration. It has a lot of potential, which he feels is not being captured by the street.

COMMENT

Likes it. It is in the housing sector. They act as a middle man between institutions who want to lend mortgages and borrowers who want to borrow. They sometimes use a broker to facilitate the trade. Then they take it off their books so there is no risk for themselves. Likes the growth profile of the business. Should be a decent year for them.

COMMENT

He has been involved with this in the past with a Long position, hedged against Home Capital Group (HCG-T), as it traded at a significant discount to that. Still thinks it is an interesting name, but it has been waiting for its bank license to come through. Until that comes through, he is going to sit on the sidelines. It is a good name.

COMMENT

Has held this in the past, but it is going to take a bit of time for them to start to see the benefits of their bank license, which they just recently got. In the meantime, they built up a lot of costs and have been sitting on those costs without any revenues to offset them. The ramp-up will take at least 6 months, if not longer. You are going to have to be patient.