Prospera Financial Services Inc Takes Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $184,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at about $522,447,000. Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 738,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,494,000 after purchasing an additional 227,798 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 170.3% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 336,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,474,000 after purchasing an additional 212,325 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 126.2% in 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 period. Finally, Credit Agricole S A boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 527,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,128,000 after purchasing an additional 166,671 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTGC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hercules Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.42.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In related news, Director Gayle A. Crowell bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.77 per share, with a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 78,727 shares in the company, valued at $1,398,978.79. This trade represents a 8.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

HTGC stock opened at $17.55 on Monday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.41. 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 (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $138.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.95 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 51.46% and a return on equity of 16.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.02%.

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.