Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $16.92 and last traded at $17.40, with a volume of 1285980 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on HTGC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Compass Point raised 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 reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given 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 price target of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 6.8 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.80. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 138,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 34,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 27,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

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.