Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 49,417 Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 49,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Palogic Value Management L.P. acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the second quarter worth $679,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the second quarter worth $4,095,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at $26,523,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at $234,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HTGC. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.46.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.3%

Hercules Capital stock opened at $17.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.66. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.70 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 67.68% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.95 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 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.2%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 79.60%.

About Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high‐growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.