Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Position Increased by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 25.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,524 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned 0.11% of Hercules Capital worth $3,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Management LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 226,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,553,000 after buying an additional 28,300 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 12.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 499,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,599,000 after buying an additional 56,932 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $14,871,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.58.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 5,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $209,180.40. This represents a 100.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $19.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.82. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $137.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $129.47 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 51.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.96%.

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.