Magnetar Financial LLC Buys Shares of 16,113 Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 16,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA lifted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 77,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Finally, Diversified Enterprises LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on HTGC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

NYSE HTGC opened at $19.26 on Friday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.95 and a 1 year high of $22.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.79.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. Analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

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.