Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Bought by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 88.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,097 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 33,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,755,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 5,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,180.40. This trade represents a 100.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $18.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.52 and its 200-day moving average is $19.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $102.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 120.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HTGC shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, February 14th. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.92.

About Hercules Capital

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.