Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC – Get Rating) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 607,435 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the previous session’s volume of 1,048,833 shares.The stock last traded at $12.93 and had previously closed at $13.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTGC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $14.50 in a research note on Friday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $12.50 to $14.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Compass Point decreased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 15th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hercules Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.89.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $100.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.34 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 31.73% and a return on equity of 13.87%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 1st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.69%. This is an increase from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.27%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2,200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.77% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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Hercules is the largest non-bank lender to venture capital-backed companies at all stages of development in a broadly diversified variety of technology, life sciences, and sustainable and renewable technology industries. With over a decade of experience in venture debt, Hercules is uniquely positioned to quickly create innovative financing solutions that perfectly fit within a company’s existing capital structure and map to its business objectives.