Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $19.97, but opened at $19.31. Hercules Capital shares last traded at $19.00, with a volume of 946,007 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on HTGC shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Compass Point upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 5.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.80.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. The company had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. On average, research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 99.38%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 946,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in 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 worth $19,002,000 after buying an additional 488,172 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,621,000 after acquiring an additional 406,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,755,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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.