MQS Management LLC Makes New Investment in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 31,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 79.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at $33,000. CNB Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the first quarter valued at $38,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $17.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $22.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.37.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $137.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.47 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 51.46% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.7%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

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.