Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 49,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,523,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,573,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,501,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,382,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,243,000 after buying an additional 678,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,199,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.46.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.3%

HTGC opened at $17.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.79. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.70 and a 52 week high of $19.62.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 67.68%.The business had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This is an increase from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 79.60%.

About Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high‐growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.