HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.47 Million Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 793 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 38,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 11,805 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $506,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 126.2% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 369,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after purchasing an additional 206,066 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $279,000. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 55,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 8,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $19.0950 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.88 and a 200-day moving average of $18.64. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $22.04.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The company 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 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%.Hercules Capital’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.8%. This is a boost from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is presently 105.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on HTGC shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.58.

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.