Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,090,740 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the previous session’s volume of 978,650 shares.The stock last traded at $18.83 and had previously closed at $19.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTGC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Compass Point raised their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 2.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. The business had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. Analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTGC. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after acquiring an additional 323,028 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,558,000 after acquiring an additional 77,869 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,265,000 after acquiring an additional 946,700 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,456,000 after acquiring an additional 62,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,002,000 after acquiring an additional 488,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

About Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital, Inc is a business development company. The firm specializing in providing venture debt, debt, senior secured loans, and growth capital to privately held venture capital-backed companies at all stages of development from startups to expansion stage including select publicly listed companies and select special opportunity lower middle market companies that require additional capital to fund acquisitions, recapitalizations and refinancing and established-stage companies.