Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Short Interest Update

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,190,000 shares, a drop of 5.3% from the December 15th total of 5,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 177.2% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its position in Hercules Capital by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 43,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 20,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 9,604 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 164,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 24,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 382,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.4 %

Hercules Capital stock opened at $20.75 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.35. Hercules Capital has a 52 week low of $16.72 and a 52 week high of $21.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The firm had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Hercules Capital will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 79.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTGC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

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.