Why TICC Capital Is Poised to Outperform

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, closed-end asset manager TICC Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: TICC  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at TICC and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

TICC facts

Headquarters (founded)	Greenwich, Conn. (2003)
Market Cap	$523.3 million
Industry	Asset management
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$74.8 million
Management	CEO Jonathan Cohen (since 2003) COO Saul Rosenthal (since 2003)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)	14.2%
Cash / Debt	$60.2 million / $390.1 million
Dividend Yield	11.7%

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 292 members who have rated TICC believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.   

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, All-Star arisktaker, tapped TICC as a particularly attractive income opportunity:

[C]urrently paying an 11.69% dividend. Closed-end investment company. Provides capital to non-public, small & medium-sized, technology companies. Company also has warrants of other equity instruments [in] some of the companies it lends to. No insider purchases or sales in the last 12 months. Should do well in a recovering economy.

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite a strong four-star rating, TICC may not be your top choice. If that's the case, we've compiled a special free report for investors called "Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks," which uncovers several other juicy income opportunities. The report is 100% free, but it won't be around forever, so click here to access it now.

J. C. Penney Meets on Revenues, Misses on EPS

J. C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) reported earnings on May 16. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended May 4 (Q1), J. C. Penney met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly. Non-GAAP loss per share expanded. GAAP loss per share expanded.

Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
J. C. Penney logged revenue of $2.64 billion. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $2.63 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 16% lower than the prior-year quarter's $3.15 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at -$1.31. The 10 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast -$0.93 per share. Non-GAAP EPS were -$1.31 for Q1 against -$0.25 per share for the prior-year quarter. GAAP EPS were -$1.58 for Q1 versus -$0.75 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 30.8%, 680 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -15.7%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -13.2%, 800 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.84 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.90.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $12.31 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$3.45.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 697 members out of 1,082 rating the stock outperform, and 385 members rating it underperform. Among 252 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 164 give J. C. Penney a green thumbs-up, and 88 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on J. C. Penney is hold, with an average price target of $16.26.

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