Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $252,000 Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HTGC. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Hercules Capital by 205.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,265,000 after buying an additional 946,700 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Hercules Capital by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,002,000 after buying an additional 488,172 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,621,000 after buying an additional 406,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,755,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Hercules Capital stock opened at $19.49 on Friday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $22.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.60 and its 200-day moving average is $18.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its 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. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%. The company had revenue of $137.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The business 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 9.6%. This is an increase from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HTGC shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.58.

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.