Simplicity Solutions LLC Buys Shares of 36,792 Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Simplicity Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 36,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 129,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,851 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $613,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $182,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $250,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 54,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.9 %

HTGC opened at $18.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.93. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 7.86 and a beta of 1.34. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.40 and a 1 year high of $18.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 2.75.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $122.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.48 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 73.26% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.58%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTGC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Compass Point downgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $17.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hercules Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

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.