Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 131,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,235 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC owned about 0.08% of Hercules Capital worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 34,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 92,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HTGC opened at $21.40 on Tuesday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $16.95 and a one year high of $22.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.71. 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 capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.35.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. The business had revenue of $121.78 million during 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 99.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HTGC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Compass Point boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.40.

Hercules Capital 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.