Oppenheimer Downgrades Horizon Technology Finance After SBIC Withdrawal

In a report published Thursday, Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski downgraded the rating on

to Perform, following the company's announcement that it had withdrawn its SBIC license application. "The company announced last November 3 that it had received a "green light" letter from the SBA inviting it to continue with the process, and our experience has been that the licenses are generally granted after this, even if it is sometimes an extended process," Kotowski stated. The analyst has lowered the estimates for the company to reflect the lack of SBIC funding, without which the analyst expects the company's investment growth to be slower and more selective. Also, without the SBIC license, the stock might have lost some upside. "While we still think that HRZN may be able to cover its $0.35 quarterly dividend pay-out in mid-to-late 2016, this has been pushed out by about a year," Kotowski added.